Restless Spirit On An Endless Flight
by Mojsengojs
Summary: The Angels return after their long break to investigate as a woman has been burned at the stake, while trying to sort out their own private lives. [1970's Angels along my own AU, follows my other stories]
1. Prologue

Hi. I know it's been a while, but I missed the Angels so here we go. It helps if you have read my old stories cause I do backtrack quite a bit in this one. But if you haven't, then here's a summary to help you along:

* * *

_After **Kelly** got shot in the finale of the series, Kris and Kelly moved to Washington where Kris joined the FBI and Kelly helped Charlie start up a new agency where Kelly has Bosley's role and hires three Angels of her own; Sandra, Janet and Melissa. They go out on different cases, in one where Melissa is killed and they meet Kamili instead. Kelly meets French-American Chef Aurore Dupont who moved in with Kelly and her two adopted daughters Sarah and Ella and their dog Oscar. Aurore's younger sister Peggy was supposed to live with them for a few weeks but decided to stay. __**Kris**, as said, joins the FBI where she meets Tommy (from episode Angel on my mind) and fall in love all over again. They get twins - Jessica and Jacob. Tommy is later killed in an explosion, leaving Kris a widow and singel mother. __After finishing her racing career, **Jill** also moves to Washington to be close to her sister and friend, finding Damien Roth (from episode Fallen Angel) and begins a relationship with him. They get a daughter, Annie. __Sandra Olsen, the Norwegian girl, lives alone apart from her two dogs, her cat and her parrot. __Janet Wanner from New York is involved with Aurore's older brother Devin and the two of them have a newborn boy named Benjamin, and a dog named Raven. Kamili Diallo, maiden name Sow, originally from Georgia, is married to Morgan and they have a daughter named Yasmin. Kamili also has a big sister named Tara Sow who lives in town and work at the local hospital._

_After the Angels have a very tough prison case, they take a break. And now, here we are ..._

* * *

Hope that helps and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

_Title is from the Eagles song "Witchy Woman" which, along with the song mentioned just below here, inspired this story, which follows my earlier works._  
_I do not own Charlie's Angels nor the characters except those you haven't seen in the show. This story is for entertainment purposes only._

x Agnes

* * *

**Restless Spirit On An Endless Flight**

_Was your shadow on fire on the night you burned  
and the ashes all filled with the lessons you learned?  
You try to fly away on your burning wings  
The night ain't filled with gentle things_

[The Night, Pt. 2 – The Builders and the Butchers]

**Prologue**_. _

Alicia Jonas was walking down the forest road with swift feet, her long, black dress flapping against her ankles, her big necklace and bracelets rattling as the many colorful gemstones knocked against each other. The heavy wind was making the trees dance, leaves rustling above her and the dry earth below her followed her like a cloud of dust. She didn't notice any of that though, all she could think about was the voice in her head telling her that this was a bad idea. The voice was loud, shouting for her to turn around, but she had pushed those thoughts into the back of her head before, and she was to do that again.

As a reporter, she often put herself into situations where she didn't feel so comfortable, and she was used to go against her gut feeling and female intuition to get the answers to the questions she was asking to be able to write the stories she wanted to tell.

She had been a reporter and a columnist for about 5 years, the last three had been dedicated to the world of the occult, to the wiccan community, indulging herself into the endless amount of information out there. There was so much going on and she found it so fascinating, wanting to learn it all. She had already learned so much, not just so she could write stories for the magazine, but also enough to change her way of life. They had taught her about herbs, spices, food straight from nature and living off the land. They had taught her how to look up towards the sky for answers and to turn to her sisters when in need, to confide in them whenever she found herself troubled.

Maybe she should've told someone about this meeting she was heading towards, because every single one of her senses were telling her that this was a bad idea. Not only meeting up with this person, whom she really didn't trust, but to do it by herself, at dusk, in the woods, seemed like an even more stupid decision. But it was too late to back out now. She had to know what was going on, and she had to get the answers to her questions. She needed a good story and she was definitely onto something here. This person had promised to straighten out some question marks for her and she had decided that the possible reward outweighed the risk.

She stumbled slightly on a root sticking up from the ground and forced herself to pay more attention to the uneven road, if you could even call it a road. A wide dirt pathway maybe, created by the thousands of feet during the years, having walked the same direction up and down to the ceremonial area where she had been so many times before. But those times had been during actual ceremonies, with other people. Now she was alone.

The June air was hot and clammy. It had been a really hot day, but she could feel that a good ol' thunderstorm was coming soon. It was hanging in the sky, covering the world with a thick, sweaty blanket, just waiting for a reason to break lose. She loved the thunderstorms. She loved to dance in the rain, preferably with all her sisters. She loved to feel the rain hit her face, her skin and to dance like she was the only person in the world. She loved the flashes of lightning which were followed by the roaring thunder, shaking the earth.

Thinking about the thunderstorms took her focus away from the task at hand, and she was not on guard as she reached the ceremonial area. She had been here so many times, and it was a place where she normally felt at home – the big, grassy glade where they would dance, a wonderfully calm lake where they had been swimming many times, the massive stone serving as a ceremonial table, but the sheer height and size of it also made it a good platform for all kinds of things. In the middle of it was a thick hole carved, and a tall metal pole sticking up through it. She had been told they used to burn witches here, once, in the beginning of times, and there used to be a wooden pole, but the metal one has been placed there as a reminder of the old times. There were old stones standing up in a circle, always fascinating to watch, and she loved to sit down next to them just to ponder about what life could've been in another time, another life.

She had been here just a few days ago as they had celebrated the Summer Solstice, which had been a glorious occasion, with food and drinks all night long.

But right now, the place lay dead quiet and she found it very spooky. As she stopped for a second to take a breath, she looked around and with her mind wandering to thunder and summer, she never heard the person come up behind her before it was too late.

* * *

First thing she realized as she slowly regained consciousness was the throbbing in her head and neck. Trying to move a hand up towards her face, she realized her hands were tied behind her back and she could feel her arms pulled back uncomfortably around something hard. Looking over her shoulder she realized she was standing against the large metal pole of the ceremonial table, arms tied behind it. Looking down, groaning, she saw her legs tied down as well around the massive pole. Seeing lights in her peripheral vision she moved her head up, eyes darting around the glade, which had been dark and deserted when she arrived but was now covered in candles, scattered around to light up the whole place. What was going on? Feeling panic well up inside of her, she frantically moved her eyes around, trying to take it all in, and as she looked back down again, this time below her, she realized that branches had been placed to lean against the stone table that she was standing on, making it look almost like a …

_Shit_.

Panic hit her as she realized what she was standing on. She began thrashing, pulling at the ropes, trying desperately to get free, but there was no use. She was stuck, the ropes were too tight and the only result she was getting was the rope sinking in deeper through her skin by her sensitive wrists. Stopping a second to take a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, a smell was suddenly hitting her nose and leaning down to smell her own upper arm she realized it was coming from her. She was sticky, and absolutely covered in gasoline.

_Shit. Double shit. _

Looking around, she tried to spot a person as someone _had to _be here and coming into her view was a dark cloaked figure, walking up towards her in a slow pace. She began shouting, asking questions, wanting – _needing_ – answers, but no matter what she said, the figure remained silent.

Alicia felt like she was going to retch as she watched the cloaked person pull out two white hands, one of the hands holding a match while the other held the box, quickly lighting the match. The wind was stubborn though, blowing the match out instantly. The figure down in the light of the candles didn't seem faced, just tried with a new match. And then another. Alicia was beginning to feel some sort of hope inside of her, thinking that maybe, just maybe, someone was watching her from above, wanting to save her. But in the end, the figure just put the box of matches away, and kicked over one of the bigger candles. The ground as well as the branches must've been soaked in the gasoline just like she was, because the flames shot up like fireworks and Alicia watched in horror as the fire climbed up onto the table, surrounding her in an instant.

Alicia had been told that when facing your end, your life will pass you by, memories of childhood, adolescence and adulthood will all be replayed in your mind. But she didn't have time for that, she barely had time to regret her decisions in life before the flames began licking her legs, and as she burned, she could smell her flesh burn just as the first flash of lightning lit up the whole glade, and her own gut-wrenching scream was hidden by the roaring of the thunder echoing throughout the land.


	2. Chapter 1 - A New Start

_There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged  
to find the ways in which you yourself have altered._

[Nelson Mandela]

**Chapter 1 **

_Monday, August 5__th__, 1985._

* * *

Kamili Diallo put her key in the office door and let herself in, almost surprised that it still worked. She stopped herself after a few steps, just taking it all in. It had been eight months since she last stepped into the office, but it all looked exactly the same this time around. The beige couches were in the same places, the mahogany bar was neat and clean, Kelly's massive oak desk with Charlie's yellow speaker phone box stood in the same spot and the two beige armchairs were still in front of the large desk. It was the same oil paintings on the walls, the same white carpet on the light parquet floor, the same white curtains framing the bulletproof windows, sunlight finding its way through as the new day begun.

Kamili found it amazing how everything could look exactly the same yet feel so different.

She took a deep breath before she headed over to the bar to start the coffee brewer, knowing her friends it would be very appreciated to be met with the smell of fresh coffee. As she was starting it up, she could hear the sound of high heels on the parquet floor outside the room and she turned her head just to see Sandra Olsen walk inside, looking stunning in a light blue dress that was matching her eyes and her long, blonde hair bouncing off her shoulders in perfect wavy curls. An Ultra Brite smile spread across her face as she saw her dark-skinned friend and they instantly shared a long, warm hug.

"Mornin' Sandra." Kamili smiled as they broke apart.

"Good morning Kam." Sandra smiled, before looking at the top of her friend's head, a hand moved up to swipe across the top of Kamili's afro curls. "I _love_ the hair."

Kamili laughed as she pulled her hand across the hair. Her black locs were gone and she had allowed her naturally African curly hair to grow wild. She had braided both sides of her head upwards though, allowing the curls to stand like a mohawk on her head and colored the mohawk to a light brown color. She had felt she needed to get her badass-ness back, and the hair was a great start.

"Thanks. It needed a change."

"It's awesome." Sandra smiled, taking a step back to look at Kamili who was dressed in her old steel toe-cap combat boots, dark jeans and a black t-shirt with the print from the Live Aid concert held at John F. Kennedy Stadium that Kamili had attended in July. Sandra had been sad to miss the live version of the concert, but she had watched both the Philadelphia-concert and the one from Wembley on the TV. "You look good."

"Thanks. I'm a lot better since we last saw each other."

"That makes me happy." Sandra smiled, happy to see her friend recovered. "You got the coffee going?"

"Of course."

Sandra smiled as she put her handbag down on the couch and looked around, just as Kamili had done just a few minutes before her. Unconsciously rubbing her hand slightly, she walked back over to Kamili and leaned across the bar.

"This feels a bit weird."

"No kidding. Amazing how some time off can mess with your head."

"I can't believe it's been 8 months. It almost feels like it's been 8 years." Sandra said, Kamili nodding in agreement.

"And then again, it feels like it was yesterday we came home from Barnwell County Prison. Are you ready for this?" Kamili asked, eyes tense as she looked at her friend.

"More ready than I've ever been. These months have been very necessary. A new start is just what I need."

"When did you get back to the Washington?"

"Four days ago. Just enough to get the jetlag away."

"Not enough to get the accent away though." Kamili laughed.

Sandra hadn't had much of an Norwegian accent as she had been living in the States since she was 17 and it had disappeared during the years. But going home for so long and only speaking Norwegian, it had come creeping back and she was staggering a bit as she had to focus on her English again. Now she laughed, knowing her English would be back to normal within a week or two.

"How is your family?" Kamili asked, tilting her head.

"They are good, they all send their love of course. It's still a bit weird going back there considering what happened last time, but it's been so nice being able to spend more than just a week with them. Everything is still a bit tense but it's getting a lot better." Sandra smiled, sitting down on one of the tall bar stools. "My brother just got another baby boy though."

Sandra had flown back home to Norway, and remained there for 6 months, just enjoying spending quality time with her family. She had been helping out a bit at the Tromsø Police Department, but mainly just taking it easy, alone with her thoughts in the high mountains, the crisp air and quiet nature. She had needed some time alone with her own head just to clear it, to find out what it was that she wanted to do, and she had cut phone lines with her friends during her stay. They knew they could reach her through the Police Department, but they had respected her wish and left her alone. They all just needed to focus on themselves for a while, so that they could come back stronger than ever. But with that, they all had some catching up to do.

"Oh, that is so sweet, you have to give him my congratulations when you speak to him. And speaking of that, have you been by Janet's?"

"Yes, of course. I was there the whole day two days ago. Picked up my pets and finally got to meet Benjamin." Sandra smiled. That was one of the few times they had talked on the phone during her stay in Norway, Kamili calling her while helping Janet through the contractions. Sandra had been wanting to get on the next plane back home to be by her friend's side, but Janet promised to take a lot of pictures and that Sandra would meet him first thing when she came back.

"He's a doll, isn't he?" Kamili said, face breaking into a smile as she thought of the almost 4 months old boy.

"Sure is. It's just so hard to picture her as a mother. I'm glad you were there to help her."

"Yeah, me too. She called me, needing someone else than a man next to her and preferably a woman who have given birth before. Devin was a wreck, he's a great boyfriend and a fantastic father but he ain't no good in too stressful situations." Kamili grinned.

"I heard he missed the whole thing." Sandra laughed. "I'm glad everything worked out well and a bit sad that I couldn't be there, but oh well. What have _you_ been up to since we last met?"

"Not much honestly." Kamili smiled as she poured coffee into two cups. "Relaxing and rehabilitating, spending time with my family, spent a lot of time with Janet, spent a lot of time with Kelly and the gang. Have you met Madison yet?"

"No, not yet, but Kelly told me there's a new girl in town."

"She's really sweet. A bit shy, very inexperienced, but I think we can polish her up."

"Sounds good." Sandra smiled. "Hey, how was Bahamas?"

"Oh, just fab. It was so nice to just spend some proper family quality time with Morgan and Yasmin. Then Tara managed to get some time off and tagged along as well. You got your card, right?"

"Oh yeah, I found a postcard amongst my mail." Sandra smiled widely. "Bit hard to read though."

"Yeah, I let Yasmin do all the cards, she needs the practice. You have to admit though that she's getting a lot better at her writing." Kamili laughed as Sandra nodded in agreement.

"Nice that your sister could tag along as well." Sandra smiled. "The hospital always seems to have her working around the clock."

"Yeah, it was great to have her there. She and Yasmin snuck away and did loads of fun stuff so I could have some alone time with Morgan. It feels like it's been forever since it was just me and my husband on a date night." Kamili smiled, before she took a few moments, drank some coffee before she turned serious towards Sandra. "So how do you feel about coming back?"

"Well it does feel a bit weird, a bit odd but I have missed work which I think is a good thing. Sometimes you have to miss something to realize that you really wanted it."

"True. I've felt the same, but I must admit that I have been a bit worried about going back in. It's been so calm and quiet for so long now."

"Yeah. I'm glad we managed to get all that time off without something crazy happening. Considering how hectic life has been the last years, we all deserved a break to heal up and get better." Sandra said as she slowly drank her coffee. "Speaking of that, are you all healed up?"

They had all been hurt during their last case, but Kamili had particularly had a bad time as she had been beaten up down in isolation. Except the fractures to her ribs, face, arm, fingers and sternum, she had also experienced a heart attack and it had taken her quite some time to recover from that, much longer than Tara had expected.

"I am, don't worry Sandra. There is quite a bit of scar tissue to the heart that does bother me from time to time, but I have been cleared for duty by my cardiologist _and_ by Tara."

"Wow, if Tara cleared you, I'm sure it's all well."

"I am absolutely well. I am a bit out of shape and the heart goes a bit bonkers when I push myself too hard, but it's just a matter of time before I can kick your pale ass again."

"We'll just see about that." Sandra grinned, putting her feet up onto the nearby barstool, flexing her insane leg muscles. "I've spent 6 months in the mountains. These babies are rock hard."

Kamili laughed. "So, I take it all is well? How's the hand?"

"It's alright. It's still acting up from time to time, but I am getting used to it which makes it easier." Sandra smiled, moving her feet back down to the floor while stretching the fingers, more out of reflex than anything else.

"And how is the head?" Kamili asked carefully, her eyes full of concern.

They had dragged her to see a psychiatrist after their time in prison. They had all known it needed to be done for a long time, ever since Melissa was killed really, but hadn't gotten around to force her to it. Sandra had called Kamili in the middle of the night about a month after they had returned home from prison, and as Kamili and Janet had headed over there they had found her dangerously drunk, high on prescription meds and with her gun in her hand, expressing her doubts about life. After they had forcefully gotten her admitted to the hospital's psychic ward, Kamili had told Tara, who had made some calls and gotten her to see a fantastic psychiatrist named Mary, who had gotten Sandra on the right path again. She was the only person, except the Norwegians, that Sandra had kept contact with during her time abroad and she had been there yesterday again to catch up.

"It's much better Kamili. I promise it's better. It wasn't very good there for a while but having you guys around me, talking to Mary and then getting so much alone-time has helped me to get my head straight and figure out what I really want to do."

"And that is…?"

"I'm here, right?" Sandra smiled widely, a hand reaching out to playfully punch Kamili's upper arm. "I wouldn't be here if I had even the slightest doubt."

Kamili couldn't help but to reach forward and pull Sandra into a tight hug. "We were so damn worried about you."

"I know. I'm sorry you had to go through that. In the future, we will talk about everything. No secrets."

"No secrets. Open hearts and open minds." Kamili whispered, pulling apart as they heard footsteps behind them.

Sandra twirled around on the chair to meet the older angel, their boss and mentor Kelly Garrett, wearing a beautiful suit dress, her brown hair curling towards her neck. She looked radiant, fresh, healthy and happy and Sandra was so pleased to see Kelly smiling, the Kelly that they had missed so much during the dark times. They hugged each other and Kamili handed Kelly a cup of coffee which she happily accepted.

"How are you Kelly? How is everyone?" Sandra asked, sitting back onto the bar stool. They had kept some contact of course, but it had been months since they last updated each other. Kamili had been over quite a bit and she was up to speed when it came to Kelly, but Sandra was not.

"I am good. It's all good. Kris is back to work with the FBI, Aurore's restaurant is doing great, and she just opened up the nightclub with Jill three months ago which has been crowded every night. Peggy is doing really good with her studies and the kids are all growing up. Ella's becoming a proper teenager of course but she has her good moments too." Kelly laughed, rolling her eyes. "I've had time to talk with everyone, and everyone's happy and healthy."

"That makes me so happy Kelly." Sandra smiled. "Janet told me that Jill and Damien are expecting another child?"

"They are! They are very excited. Jill's been feeling a bit sick though, but it will hopefully pass soon."

A person suddenly appeared in the doorway. A young woman, tall and slim, wearing a thin purple tank top underneath a black leather jacket and skinny blue jeans accompanied by white converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. She had long, straight black hair neatly braided into one long braid down her spine and wore a golden necklace with the Scorpio symbol around her long neck.

"Madison. Come on in." Kelly immediately greeted her, holding out a hand. Sandra and Kamili got to their feet, welcoming her to the office. Janet was on maternity leave, Kamili was not fully in shape and Kelly had been looking for a new angel for a while, ever since the crazy Fairytale-case when Zeke had lost his mind. She had stumbled upon this girl when she took a month to travel all by herself without an actual destination, and somewhere on the steppes of Mongolia they had crossed paths. They had been close friends ever since and Kelly had quickly recruited Madison to the agency, joining them as a part-time job while finishing off her studies.

"Girls. This is Madison Lee. Madison, this is Sandra Olsen and of course you've met Kamili already."

"It's a pleasure meeting you. Kelly has told me so much about you." Madison said politely as she shook Sandra's hand.

"Nothing good, I assume." Kamili grinned, as Sandra turned to punch her lightly on her upper arm. "Coffee?"

"Oh, black please." Madison smiled.

"Well I have been out of town and haven't heard anything about you." Sandra smiled as she motioned Madison over to the couch, moving her handbag away slightly.

"Well, I'm 22 years old, 23 in November and I'm originally from Manhattan. I've been studying astrophysics for a few years and I've spent the last year in Mongolia as part of my studies. I don't really know anything about crime fighting though ..."

"But I for one am certain you will learn quickly. You have many other qualities that will be a great asset to the team." Kelly smiled. "And you have the best people around you, of course."

"Did you get your gun license?" Kamili asked, knowing Kelly had taken Madison to the shooting range.

"I did, last week."

"Well that's a great start." Kamili smiled. "We will teach you everything we know."

"Shouldn't take more than a week." Kelly grinned, earning a slap on the shoulder from Kamili.

"Actually, as soon as you're up to it, I want Madison to get shooting lessons from you." Kelly said, turning to look at Kamili who grinned.

"It would be my pleasure."

Madison looked from Kelly to Kamili, then back to Kelly.

"Kamili is our sniper. I don't know anyone who's more of an accurate shooter than she is, especially on long distances."

"This is true." Sandra nodded in. "She saved my life on our first case together by shooting my attacker, while being almost 500 yards away."

Kamili grinned as she patted her own shoulder.

"I'd be happy to learn." Madison smiled impressed.

"Although, as I understand it, Kelly already started your training, and she is a pretty good sharp-shooter as well." Sandra smiled, looking over to Kelly with her eyebrows up.

Kelly smiled, modest. "I've been known to have a good aim too, yes. But it's been many years since I held a sniper's rifle and even then, I didn't always hit my intended target, inexperienced enough to take the shots anyway. When we were at army training for a case, I wasn't that far away, and I almost killed Jill."

"Just tell the truth Kelly, you were aiming for Jill, right? She was getting on your nerves?" Kamili grinned and Kelly laughed loudly.

"I probably was, at least unconsciously. But in all fairness, when it comes to long distances, Kamili is a better teacher than I am."

"All you need to know is that I'm the awesome one. _I_ would've hit Jill for sure." Kamili grinned, winking to Madison as Kelly rolled her eyes.

A short knock on the door made all of them move around. In the door was a woman in her late 30's, dressed formally in a three-piece suit.

"Miss Jonas, please come on in." Kelly immediately gestured. "Coffee?"

"Please. Black." The woman smiled, happily accepting the cup that came from Kamili in an instant.

"Miss Jonas, these are my angels. Kamili Diallo, Sandra Olsen and Madison Lee." Kelly introduced them. "Angels, this is our client, Miss Andrea Jonas. Would you all have a seat please? "

The client sat down in the couches as the angels joined in. Kelly sat down behind the desk, punched a few numbers on the phone and clicked on the speaker.

Charlie's voice boomed out into the room.

"Good morning Angels!"

"Good morning Charlie!" Sandra and Kamili laughed. It had been a while since they got to do that.

"Madison, welcome to the agency. I'm sure you will fit right into the family."

"Thank you, Charlie."

"Kelly."

"Charlie."

The two of them didn't need to share more words between each other. They had spent endless hours talking since the last case, Charlie making it very clear that he would not accept a new case like last time. He would not allow Kelly to freeze him out and take control again. It had almost killed every single one of his angels, and if she ever tried something like that again he would send the national guard in and then pull her into court. Kelly did not need to be told twice, and as she had managed to achieve her goal last time _\- to get Kris to swim _\- she felt content to listen to Charlie again. As she had promised him to follow his orders, he had pulled a lot of strings, talked to the right people and _maybe or maybe not_ moved some money around to get her and Kris out of spending actual jail time. But Kelly knew she was on her last leg. One more miss and she would be out.

"Miss Jonas. Welcome. I am certain my angels can help you out, if you just fill them in."

Miss Jonas nodded, looking into her cup. "I'm here because I need help finding my sister's killer. I've been to the police of course and they have been searching without results."

As she took a break, not sure what to say, Sandra who was sitting next to her put a careful hand on her wrist.

"Tell us about your sister."

Miss Jonas smiled gracefully. "Her name was Alicia. She was a journalist with a special interest in the wiccan world. She didn't start out that way, she started as a columnist for the magazine called the Prospect and she kept writing that column till her death, but they allowed her to do bigger stuff as well, digging deeper into other stories. She always loved it, finding it so interesting. She loved interviewing the people who believed themselves to be witches or wizards, she went to meetings, talked to people in the stores, trying to find stories. I told her to be careful, but she just laughed me off, asking where the danger would possibly be at. After a few years of small stories, she wanted to dig deeper. She began attending the witch meetings herself, dressing differently from what she would normally wear, learning their ways of life. She got more and more into it, until she disappeared. She was missing for almost a month before the police suddenly knocked my door two weeks ago, telling me they had been able to identify remains by the dental records as my sister."

The client took a break, looking over towards Sandra, again not sure how to continue. This time though, Kamili asked the next question.

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"No. The police couldn't tell as she was so badly burned when they found her."

"Burned?"

Miss Jonas swallowed hard, then opening her mouth a few times as if to talk but choking every time. She looked over to Kelly for help and Kelly instantly filled the Angels in.

"Her sister was burned at the stake."

The sound of three people inhaling hard at the same time went through the room.

"Burned at the – _what_, like during the witch trials?" Kamili said, shocked.

"Yes." Miss Jonas said, finding her voice again. "She loved to study witchcraft, herbs and so on but she never truly believed herself to be a real witch of course, at least that's what she told me, not one with magic powers. I can't believe that someone would be afraid of her, which is the only reason I can see to someone burning her."

"We are supposedly dealing with someone rather disturb, Angels." Charlie said after a small break. "Miss Jonas has provided us with a list of names of everyone she can think of that is connected to her sister. I think that will be a good place for us to start."

As Charlie spoke, Kelly looked over the papers on her desk, finding the right one as she held it out for Sandra, who quickly moved over to take it in her hand.

"She didn't have many friends. She was in love with her work and all her free time was spent studying witchcraft." Miss Jonas said while Sandra eyed through the list.

"That should narrow it down for us." Charlie said, his voice ever so soothing through the phone. "We'll go through the list and then we'll see where we go from there. You just go home and take it easy and we will be in touch with updates as often as we have them."

Miss Jonas realized that was her cue to leave and she thanked them all before leaving the office. The four women in the office sat quiet for a moment, Sandra looking through the list before handing it over to Kamili and Madison who both studied it closely.

"Will someone pose as a witch?" Kamili asked as their client was out of earshot, eyebrow up towards Kelly.

"No." Kelly answered quickly. "I think that's way too dangerous. I will try to solve at least one case without someone being shot, tortured or burned."

"That would be a nice change." Kamili laughed softly, the others agreeing with her.

"Does it usually get that rough?" Madison asked, sounding a bit worried as she looked between the others. It was her first case and she didn't really know what to expect, but she was not really prepared to be shot, tortured nor burned. In difference from the others she didn't have any medical training at all, except the first responder course that Kelly had sent her to last week.

"Maybe one case in 30 goes out of hand, but most of the cases are calm and very boring." Sandra reassured her. "We don't _always_ get hurt."

"But you have all been hurt?"

By reflex, Sandra rubbed her bad hand, and Kamili let her hand touch her chest where she could feel the scar from open heart surgery even through her t-shirt. Kelly realized how she unconsciously had placed her head into her hand, her fingers trailing in the hairline to find the scars from a bullet.

"Yes." Kelly said, putting her hand back to the desk, sitting straight. "We have all been severely hurt."

"The insurance company loves us." Kamili grinned to lighten up the mood.

Kelly chuckled and shook her head before looking between her Angels. "We will not make the same mistakes twice. We will be smart from now on, work as a team. No-one goes out on their own without checking in first. We await back-up when needed and I don't want anyone to put themselves at unnecessary risks."

The young girl nodded, Kamili and Sandra giving Kelly a nod as well to let her know that they had heard her.

"We have a list of people to talk to. Sandra and Kamili, divide that list between the two of you. Sandra, bring Madison along and meet up with people that you need to meet in person. Kamili, I know you won't like it but –"

"Paperwork and phone calls, I know. Do you have another copy?"

With Kamili having a heart attack during their latest case in prison, Kelly was not risking anything. Tara had warned Kamili – _and Kelly_ – that another heart attack was not impossible. She was to take it easy even though they had cleared her for duty. Tara didn't really want Kamili in the agency at all but Kamili was not ready to give it up. She had promised though to not put herself in strenuous situations but take it easy and carefully, be smart about it. She did have a feeling that she would not be able to keep that promise but she did intend to give it a try.

Kelly handed her a copy of the same list and Kamili began crossing names off one list before handing it to Sandra.

"I'll take the crossed ones. You head out, keep me updated and then we can meet up for lunch later." Kamili said, then turned to Kelly. "What will you do?"

"I'll keep you company for now." Kelly smiled, not sure of what else to do at the moment.

"No bookwork?" Sandra teased and Kelly chuckled.

"I had eight months to finish it all."

"So you finished the last of it yesterday?" Kamili grinned.

"Perhaps." Kelly smiled. She had been quite busy with everything else, paperwork always seemed to be pushed down on the list of priorities.

Sandra and Madison got to their feet, ready to move out. Sandra grabbed her handbag and flung it over her shoulder, and just as the two of them moved towards the door, Charlie's voice halted them.

"And oh, angels."

Sandra and Madison stopped in the door, turning towards the speaker phone.

"There have been some upgrades to your office. I bought the rest of the building so feel free to explore."

Sandra and Kamili looked at each other before turning to Kelly who has a wide grin on her face.

"Take a moment before you go off and have a look around. Both upstairs and downstairs and maybe even further downstairs."

"Enjoy angels." Charlie said before clicking off his end of the phone line.

Kamili was instantly on her feet, following Sandra out of the office, squeezing Madison between them who happily followed. Earlier, the entrance had been at the bottom floor with a wide staircase and elevator behind it, leading up to their office, which was big enough. Out in the hallway had been bathrooms, a dark room for photo developing, a massive walk in closet from where they would borrow under cover outfits and large storage with all sorts of things. Looking in there, it was all still the same. The other floors and areas in the building had been occupied by other companies, or just empty rooms, but now Sandra headed up the stairs two steps at the time, Madison right at her heels whilst Kamili debated with herself if she was to use the elevator or not but figuring she needed the exercise, she hurried after Sandra and Madison. Arriving upstairs, Sandra had already pulled open a door revealing what could be best described as a playground. There was a pool table, a foosball table, arcade machines, a television set with a Nintendo Entertainment System, and all sorts of other things to take stress away. Sandra squealed as she saw a skiing arcade machine, hurrying over to find a post-it note attached to it, snatching it up as Kamili joined her side.

"Enjoy Sandra." Sandra read, turning to punch Kamili's upper arm lightly. "Look! I can teach you how to ski!"

"Don't be ridiculous Sandra. If I'm going to kill myself, I'd rather just use my gun." Kamili laughed, still out of breath from the stairs, before she spotted a door in the room and hurried through it, gasping in excitement as she saw it. Sandra pushed past her, looking in, a happy squeak slipping out of her mouth as Madison pushed her head into the room as well.

"I know where we're having the next movie night." Kamili grinned, looking into the little movie theatre. It was not massive, just a normal room, but in one end of it were armchairs, a couch, bean bags and pillows. A projector was hanging from the roof, the screen covering a whole wall.

"Let's see the downstairs." Sandra squealed, hurrying out, Kamili and Madison close by.

At the ground floor were two doors that they usually never went through as another company had been renting it, but now they pulled the doors up, Madison going left and Sandra going right. Kamili, even more out of breath, stood in the middle with her hands on her hip, trying to decide where to go, then deciding that right is always right. Sandra had found a kitchen, again not massive but big enough to cook a proper meal. Opening up the fridge, Sandra pouted as it was empty.

"I'm sure we can get Aurore to fill it up with leftovers." Kamili laughed, patting Sandra's shoulder, looking around. In the room were also a large table where 10 people could sit at once and chairs for kids standing along the wall.

Sandra and Kamili headed into the other room, finding Madison exploring a more evening-sitting area. A well-stocked bar was there, a music system big enough to rupture your eardrums, but also bookshelves full of books and beautiful leather couches.

The trio had a look around for a while before remembering what Kelly had said about even 'further downstairs'. Madison was first down the stairs, and they found a corridor with several doors. Heading in through the first one, they realized it was a dressing room, with showers, bathrooms and a sauna. Walking through it they found two doors - one of them leading to a well-equipped gym, with loads of different kinds of machines, a wrestling mat on the floor and a good selection of free weights. The other door was leading to an area with a small indoor swimming pool and a jacuzzi area.

"Oh wow." Madison breathed as she took in the sight of the beautiful area. This would be a great place to keep fit in the future. Kamili and Sandra nodded in agreement. Charlie had certainly outdone himself here, and they were very happy that the office had become a place where they could spend a lot of time even outside work.

"We will definitely explore this more, especially that jacuzzi." Sandra smiled, pointing over to it.

"And I can try my hardest to get back in shape." Kamili smiled. "This will certainly be a great place to do so."

"I'll help you out." Sandra smiled, patting Kamili's shoulder as the trio walked out of the swimming area, heading through the corridor and upstairs again. Kamili took a break, a hand against the wall, as they came to the ground floor before heading to the next floor. Sandra placed a hand on her shoulder, observing her friend.

"You okay?"

"Stairs are the worst." Kamili sighed, giving Sandra a light smile. "But don't worry, it's getting much better."

Sandra nodded, patted Kamili's shoulder. "Good. Better is good. Well, we will take off and we'll see you later. Let's keep in touch yes?"

"Of course. Lunch at Rory's." Kamili smiled, nodding to Sandra and to Madison before she turned to head up the next flight of stairs and Sandra turned to her new colleague, nodding. Madison immediately understood her and the two of them headed out to the waiting cars.

Left in the hallway was Kamili, who, as soon as Madison and Sandra were out of the way, stopped and doubled over, feeling very lightheaded. Sure, it was better now than it had been when she last saw Sandra, but she had backlashed quite bad as it was a lot better just a month ago than it was now. She had gotten to the shape where she actually could take three flights of stairs at a run and only be a little bit out of breath after. Now, a month later, she felt like she was going to fall over from walking one flight. But not wanting to go back on sick leave, she figured she would just keep working out and it would hopefully be good again. She had told Tara though who had of course been very worried as every big sister would be, while Dr Harris, Kamili's cardiologist, said that having backlashes was all normal, but did ask her to thread carefully and keep him updated.

"Would you just sit down instead?"

Kamili's head jerked up, way too fast, and she was immediately answered by a head rush. Kelly caught her as she tilted forwards and got her down onto the couch standing by the entrance. Kamili leaned forward and put her head between her knees, Kelly's hand making circles on her upper back. Kelly sat quiet for several minutes as Kamili just breathed through it, and soon she stretched carefully, leaning back, sighing loudly.

"How are you doing?"

"I've taken a few steps back." Kamili sighed. "I thought I was recovered and ready but now it's like I'm back on step one again."

"Don't worry, you'll soon jump ahead. You just can't rush a heart."

Kamili smiled at the sentence, nodding. "I'll stay out of the field and do your job instead until it's better. The gym area is spectacular, it will be a good place to get back into shape at. I will try my hardest to get back."

"You will get back, just don't overexert yourself. I prefer you halfway there than splattered across the wall."

"I'll be careful."

"Good. Let's get to it, there are phone calls to make and people to deceive."

Kelly and Kamili got to their feet, Kamili a bit slower than Kelly, and reaching her, Kelly had already pressed the button to the elevator.

"I can walk one flight of stairs Kelly."

"But you don't have to."

Kamili smiled as the two of them got into the elevator. She never liked looking weak, but Kelly had already seen her both at her best and her worst, and she trusted Kelly to keep a secret, but also help her out when in need. There was no point hiding anything like this from her and she had a feeling that it might get worse before it got better.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Upstairs

**Chapter 2. **

"Do you mind if I drive?" Sandra asked, heading towards her car while fishing up the car keys from her purse.

"No not at all." Madison smiled. "I don't actually have a car."

"What?" Sandra said in surprise, turning to Madison.

"I've been abroad for years, just came here a few weeks ago. Charlie told me he would get me a car, but it hasn't arrived yet."

"How did you get here?"

Madison smiled as she pointed towards a red Triumph Legend 964cc motorcycle parked against the building wall, Sandra whistling impressed.

"I'll drop you off here later so you can pick it up."

"Sure. Which one is yours?"

"The convertible." Sandra smiled, pointing at her black Aston Martin V8 Volant, which she had been driving since she started in the agency.

"Is that Kamili's car?" Madison asked, pointing to the black and red Ford mustang with the 'Awesome'-license plate, as the two of them moved over to the convertible.

"Yes, that's her baby." Sandra smiled as the two of them slid into the front seats of Sandra's car.

"How is she? You seemed so concerned about her."

"She was hurt really badly during our last case. I haven't seen her in 6 months and when I left, she was still in rough shape. She seems to be a lot, _a lot_, better now and she told me that Tara has cleared her to work but it still worries me."

Madison nodded; Kelly had told her that Kamili had heart problems but she didn't really know any details and didn't feel it was really her place to ask. Instead she continued with another question. "Who is Tara?"

"Oh! Her big sister. She is a doctor at the George Washington University Hospital, really good. You'll probably meet her sooner or later." Sandra said, then added with a chuckle. "Preferably later perhaps."

"I'll happily meet her when she's not working." Madison smiled, before looking at the list in her hands which she had grabbed from Sandra as the two of them had ran out to look around the building. "Where to first?"

"Let's start on top. The first one is the magazine where she worked, but Kamili crossed that one out, so we'll take number two."

"Wouldn't it be a good thing to go down to her office?" Madison asked puzzled.

"Not if we want to go undercover later." Sandra smiled, to which Madison nodded, understanding. "What's number two on the list?"

"It's a shop that deals in the occult." Madison read, giving Sandra an address, they were on their way to the first stop of the day.

Arriving at the little shop, Sandra parked and the two of them headed inside. It was easy to tell where the special interest lay as the two of them looked around in there. Madison walked up closely to Sandra, whispering with a grin.

"Do you think this is a money-laundering place? Can they really make honest money with this stuff?"

Sandra chuckled quietly as the two of them broke apart and kept looking around. Sandra found a shelf with dried whatever – everything from plants and herbs to what appeared to be parts of animals. She was scared to ask. There were crystal balls, tarot cards, gemstones, minerals, books, kettles, bottles of things she didn't want to know the contents of and so much more stuff that she couldn't read the labels on.

"Can I help you?"

Sandra twirled and gave the woman behind her a gleaming smile. The woman was probably in her late 40s, and she was dressed in a long black dress, reaching all the way to the floor, matching her long black hair.

"I hope so."

The woman's back straightened and her face broke out into a smile. She loved being given the chance to help and talk to new customers.

"I'm looking for a familiar face. Her name is Alicia Jonas."

"Alicia? I haven't seen her in months unfortunately." The woman said, sadness in her face. "She was such a lovely woman."

"She used to hang around here though?" Sandra asked.

"Yes, she used to be one of my regulars. Sweet girl. Journalist so she had a lot of questions, and she was very skeptical to the whole thing in the beginning, but she turned around as she realized not all of us are crazy people." The woman said with a gentle smile which Sandra matched. "How did you know each other?"

"We didn't really, she was a friend of a friend and we met a few times. She told me about what she was working on and I thought it sounded so interesting, so I was hoping to get a hold of her and talk more about it, but so far, I've come up short. I've started looking around now in places where I think she might be hiding."

"I see." The woman smiled, looking over to Madison who was holding an object in her hands. "You're holding it upside down dear."

Madison turned around, face red hot as she smiled and put the object, which she still didn't know what it was, back on the shelf.

"Are you here together, are you a friend of Alicia as well?"

"I'm just along for the ride." Madison smiled, before turning her head, a bit shy still, turning back to the shelves as she let Sandra do the talking, listening attentively though.

"Do you know of any other places where she might be hiding?" Sandra asked, changing the subject back to Alicia.

"Well, I don't really know her, but she used to go to all the witch meetings." The woman smiled, walking over to the counter and grabbing a flyer that she handed to Sandra. "Most of her friends go there too. I don't go there myself as it's usually a younger crowd, but I'm sure that if someone knows where Alicia is, that someone will be there."

"Thank you so much. You've been very helpful. I never caught your name?"

"Alyssa, Alyssa Johnstone." The woman smiled, reaching out a hand which Sandra happily shook.

"I'm Sandra Olsen, and that woman over there is Madison Lee." Sandra smiled, looking over to Madison who had her nose deep into a book. "Madison?"

Madison's head popped up, as she closed the book and headed over to the counter. "I'll happily buy this book, please."

"What did you find?" Sandra smiled as she looked over Madison's shoulder, seeing a book called '_It's all relative: Einstein's theory of relativity_.'

"Oh, I've heard about this but haven't had time to read it yet."

"You find space and time interesting." The woman behind the counter stated as Madison handed her money for the book.

"I do. Space particularly." Madison smiled. "I love turning to the sky, how everything is connected and how it holds both secrets and answers. It's an endless source of information, as long as we can take the time to read it."

"You will have plenty to talk about with the other ladies at the meeting. There's a lot of fascination in the heavens and amongst the zodiac signs." The woman smiled as she handed Madison a bag with the book inside of it, Madison thanking her as the two angels walked out, heading to Sandra's car, sliding into it.

"You're a fan of the zodiacs?" Sandra asked, not knowing the first thing about it herself.

"Yeah, I've always found it interesting." Madison smiled. "I kinda of dedicated my life to it."

"So you're good at guessing people's signs? What sign am I?" Sandra asked with a cheeky smile.

Madison laughed, but played along as she buckled up. "Well, let's see, from what I've been told and can see, you're very friendly and out-going, charming, you're flexible and enjoy changes, and is constantly searching for more information on everything. I'm certain you have loads of hidden talents and several projects going on at the same time which often includes other people whom you leave hanging as you give that project up a bit too fast. To me you appear to be a typical Gemini."

"That's insane." Sandra said, impressed, leaning back into the car seat.

"What date?" Madison asked.

"May 24th." Sandra smiled, before nodding over to the list, Madison picking it up. "We should have time for one more stop before lunch. You pick someone."

"Misha Evans." Madison said as she read through the list. "Her roommate."

"Good call. Address?"

Madison gave Sandra the address and she turned the black car around and headed that direction. As they got out on the road, both sat quiet for a moment before Madison spoke up.

"Kelly told me you're Norwegian."

"True." Sandra smiled, looking over at Madison for a second before taking her eyes back on the road. "Født og oppvokst i Tromsø."

"Right, I agree." Madison laughed, not understanding a word, Sandra laughing along.

"Born and raised in Tromsø, in northern Norway. Came here originally to study in my mid-teens, dropped out and became an au pair at age 17 but then decided to go to the Police Academy instead and met Janet." Sandra explained; eyes suddenly glossy as her mind drifted off.

Madison didn't want to pressure the woman she had only known for a few hours, so she sat quiet, leaned back into the seat. Sandra suddenly shook her head, looking over towards Madison for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"There was another woman with us as well at the Police Academy, her name was Melissa. Janet, Melissa and I joined the agency together, and just a year into it, 3 years ago now, she was murdered. She died in my arms, I got there too late and there was nothing I could do about it." Sandra said, eyes focused on the road as she talked.

Madison sat quiet for a while before knowing how to proceed. "Thank you for telling me."

Sandra smiled, nodding. Her psychiatrist, Mary, had gotten her to talk about the event, all feelings around it, all the guilt, anxiety and panic associated with it. Sandra's mind drifted off a bit as she drove, recalling the conversation she had with Kelly during their last days in Hawaii.

_Several hours later, the evening had turned into a chilly, but not cold, night. Kelly walked up to the house alone, not seeing any lights on she assumed that everyone had gone to bed. They were all tired and everyone was longing for their sleep._

_She almost walked right past the figure sitting on their favorite spot on the stone wall. Kelly stopped and looked closer, and upon seeing who is was she walked up behind her angel, putting a hand on her shoulder. Sandra moved around quickly, not having heard anyone walk up behind her, but upon seeing Kelly she immediately calmed down._

_"Hey." Sandra whispered, Kelly sitting down with a gentle smile on her face._

_"What's going through your mind?" Kelly asked, putting her hand on Sandra's lower arm. Kelly could see that Sandra trembled underneath her touch, but she didn't move her arm away._

_"I'm not really sure."_

_"You don't know what you're thinking?"_

_"Hard to explain. I just don't sleep well anymore."_

_Kelly looked worriedly at Sandra, but Sandra didn't meet her eyes. She was staring out over the ocean like all of them had done so many times since they arrived, so many thoughts going through their minds. Kelly gently squeezed Sandra's arm. "What's the matter with you, Sandra? You look beat."_

_"I'm scared of sleeping." Sandra whispered, inhaling sharply._

_"Why?"_

_Sandra took a second before she answered, once again in a whisper. "I'm afraid I won't wake back up."_

_Kelly sat quiet and pondered about the answer for a moment before she slumped her shoulders and turned to look out over the ocean just as her younger friend._

_"I imagine if Kris died, I wouldn't move on. She could have died that day... she did die that day, you know? I've watched her become a shell of who Kris was. But if I couldn't see her, or hear her voice, or just touch her skin... I wouldn't deal with it well. Even after a few years... I don't think I would do well."_

_Sandra turned to look at her, but this time it was Kelly who didn't turn her head. "So, I understand. When you, when we, lost Melissa, you lost your Kris. So, life is unbearable. I get that."_

_"I dream about her still. For as long as I live, she's going to be there, in my mind, and in my dreams. And sometimes... I just want her to go away. I can't rest as long as she's still there."_

_"I would die."_

_Sandra was once again turning to look at Kelly, this time with confusion splattered over her face, her beautiful facial features being lit up by the pale moonlight._

_"I would die without Kris. She is what keeps me grounded. She keeps me sane. If she was gone, I wouldn't be any of those things. Just like you're not anymore." Kelly said quietly, before turning to meet Sandra's ice blue eyes. "You don't think people can see behind your smile. But I can. And I wish I could help you but I'm afraid it's for you to solve yourself."_

_Sandra nodded quietly, before lowering her eyes._

_"But that doesn't mean you're alone in it. I can't clear your head for you, I can't make you move on, but I am always, and I mean always, here for you if you need a shoulder to cry on or ears to listen to you as you speak."_

_Sandra met Kelly's eyes again, and a faint smile spread on her lips._

_"Thank you, Kelly. That means a lot to me."_

_"Never, ever be afraid to ask for help. Promise me that. No worry is too small nor too big."_

_Sandra smiled again as she turned her head and looked out over the dark sea._

_"Let's try and get some rest shall we. There's been a couple of long days, but now I declare holiday."_

_Sandra let out a giggle as Kelly rose from the wall, patted Sandra's shoulder and went into the house, leaving Sandra lost in thoughts outside the house._

Sandra still dreamed of Melissa sometimes, but the dreams that used to come nightly were now only haunting her on very rare occasions. She had gotten medications to help her get into a dreamless sleep state and those, and that along with talking a lot about what had happened, how she was feeling and all else going on in her head, was getting her on the right path. She wouldn't say her mind was as good as it could be, or even had been, but she had begun seeing life in a new light. Finding herself again in the slopes, horseback riding and meeting up with old friends from home that she hadn't met in a decade or more. She was teaching herself to say no to things, say no to things she didn't want or had to do, and teaching herself to see something good in every day. She had a little notebook at home where she wrote down things that made her happy. It could be small stuff – like sunshine, or bigger stuff as in meeting her best friends again for the first time in months. She had been in desperate need of getting her head straight, and by finding herself and the things she once loved to do, she was on a good way to that straight path. She wanted to be the happy, bubbly Scandinavian girl again, and that was her goal. To be happy. _Doesn't sound too hard, does it? _

"How are you coping?"

Sandra shook her head out of the mindset where she had been, remembering that Madison were still in the car. Now she looked over at her, apologizing.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"How do you cope with something like that?"

"With help." Sandra smiled. "Fantastic friends, a good boss, a job that will keep you busy around the clock, hobbies that you love, fresh air and a blue sky. And a good psychiatrist can also prove to be worth the money."

Madison smiled, feeling blessed that this new person happily opened up to her like this instead of closing like a shell. It made her feel that Sandra was that kind of person that she could talk about anything with, and it made her happy to know that she would hopefully make a good friend in her and that she had someone to turn to other than Kelly. So far, she had only met Janet a handful of times and even though Janet had been very friendly she had also felt that she kept her distance. Hopefully she would be able to spend more time with Janet and get to know her better. Kamili was also very friendly, but her tough exterior scared Madison a bit, and Kamili felt like a much more private person than Sandra was, not sharing too much and keeping to herself. Kelly used to refer to Kamili as a coconut. Rock hard surface, but once you crack her open, she's all soft. Although seeing Kamili and Sandra together had been nice, the way they teased each other, and Madison had a feeling that all three of the angels would open up to her sooner or later. Not that she felt that she needed their whole life stories, but she did want them to include her into the everyday life. She didn't have many friends and she didn't know anyone in Washington.

She had been very worried about what Sandra, Janet and Kamili would all think of her as Kelly had first mentioned them. They seemed like such a good, close team and she didn't want to intrude. But Kelly had been persuasive, promised her that they would accept her like family and welcome her with open arms, even if it might take a little while. Kelly had also told her not to worry, when Kamili joined the team there had been some difficulties. Kamili had been so used to working alone that she happily took off by herself and she had to learn how to do teamwork, and as someone who hadn't had many friends before, she had been quite awkward towards the others at first, but soon warmed up, showing them the family side of her that she rarely let on to strangers. Outwards she was always the tough one, but to her friends was someone completely else. Sandra and Janet had been very closed and distant towards Kamili in the beginning as well, still grieving the loss of their best friend it had felt weird seeing someone take her place even though it was them who had offered it to her. But they had become great friends, inseparable by now, and Madison hoped that they had a place for her as well.

"How did you meet Kelly?"

Madison jerked her head around as Sandra talked, having interrupted her thoughts.

"It was in Mongolia. I got an opportunity through school to go there for 6 months and study the northern hemisphere. To perfectly study the sky, you don't want too much other lights around you, so I managed to find people who knew people who could take me out into nowhere. I followed the nomads and got to know their way of life. One day a tour group came by, and Kelly was amongst them. She was backpacking, trying to get her head straight and find herself again, and we just started talking. Not many Americans in those parts. I think we just clicked, I can't really explain it, but for some reason it feels like I've known her my whole life. My gut feeling told me to follow her when she moved on, so I packed my things and followed her here."

"Kelly truly is extraordinary." Sandra said. "She is one of the most incredible people I've met, she's got a head like a bull when she sets her mind to it, and I've seen her push herself past all insane limits to make sure everyone around her is safe. She truly is an inspiration and I feel so blessed to have her near me and as a mentor."

Sandra sat quiet for a moment again, thinking back of their last case, her eyebrows going up. "But, don't ever piss her off. She can become quite scary when she's angry, and we have all feared her at different occasions when she can come off as quite… indifferent. Coldhearted. No sign of compassion. This while she is one of the most compassionate women, with the biggest heart I know. She's a difficult book to read, but then again, she is my boss and she will never show me all her chapters. Kris is the person who has kept her mind grounded all these years, Jill is the one who kept her smiling. Aurore is the only person who gets to see a side of Kelly that no one else gets to see."

Madison nodded, understanding what Sandra meant. She had only known Kelly for a few months, but quickly realized that she was a complex woman. They did share some key points – they were both orphan, although Madison had known her parents. They had died when she was just a kid though, she ended up in an orphanage where she, in difference from many others, thrived. She had found her salvation amongst the stars and dedicated her life to learn their secrets.

"Here we go."

Sandra had suddenly pulled up by a house, a car parked outside and the lights on which was a good sign. Madison began moving out of the car, but Sandra stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Madison."

Madison sat back into the car, turning towards Sandra.

"Don't ever be afraid to talk to me, or Kamili or Janet, if there's ever anything you want to get off your chest. We can only be a good team if we're open and honest with each other. I know Kam is not always the easiest to turn to but once you get to know her and vice versa, she's the most loyal friend you can have."

Madison nodded, smiling. "Thank you. It really makes me happy that you are so nice to me. I don't really know what I'm doing here but I am happy and willing to learn."

"You'll get the hang of it fast." Sandra smiled. "Being an angel isn't only about going to the Police Academy, Kam never went there."

"No, but she was in the army and a bonds office, right? All the fighting and shooting is quite scary to me."

"It's scary to all of us but the better you become at it, the more control you'll have over the situation. We'll make sure to practice on the mat in the office, teach you all the tricks in the book on how to take down the baddies. It's a fun pastime, trying to get the other angel to surrender. I was usually the first one to give up before, both Kamili and Janet are better fighters than I am. But with that said, I have been practicing lately."

"I'm eager to learn."

"That's good, it's important to be curious about things, it's a big part of our job. Don't worry Mads, you'll get the hang of it fast."

Madison smiled happily, before the two of them got out of the car and walked up to the house, ringing the doorbell.

It didn't take long before a woman in her 30's opened, wearing a long bath robe.

"Miss Evans?" Sandra asked, as always with a big smile on her face.

"Yes. Can I help you?" The woman in the door asked, suspicious.

"My name is Sandra, this is Madison. We work for Charles Townsend Detective Agency, and we wonder if you would talk to us about Alicia Jonas."

The woman immediately lowered her head. "I don't know what happened to her."

"We're trying to figure that out. Her sister has hired us to help straighten the question marks."

Misha took a step back as she gestured for Sandra and Madison to come inside, and Sandra immediately took the lead as she walked into the house, Madison following close on her heels, Misha coming in behind them.

"Can I get you anything? I just made some coffee."

"I'll happily take a mug." Sandra smiled, while Madison shook her head.

"I'm good thanks."

Misha showed them into the kitchen, pouring Sandra and herself a cup she then moved them into the living room where they sat down in the couch group. Sandra looked around as she sipped her coffee, looking around at all the things that were weird to her. It was easy to see that the inhabitants of this house had a special interest, as the shelves and the tops of chest of drawers were fully decorated with all sorts of things. There was an awful lot of candles, most of them were not lit at this moment, but then again it looked like Misha had just gotten out of bed. There was also a lot of bottles, paintings, feathers, statues and books spread out, the walls covered with paintings, dreamcatchers and random décor.

"Does witchcraft interest you?"

Sandra turned her head around towards Misha. "I don't know anything about it, but it's absolutely fascinating."

"Alicia didn't know much about it when I got to know her, but she really dug down deep into it. I grew up with it. I wouldn't call myself a witch, but I do like the way of life."

"How did you and Alicia meet?"

"At the witch meetings. She began attending them as a journalist, asking questions, looking for stories. We got to talking and it didn't take long for us to become friends. She needed a place to stay so she moved in here. She stayed here for little more than three years before she suddenly disappeared."

"Do you have any idea why she disappeared, or where she disappeared to?"

"No. She just didn't come home one day. I wasn't too worried at first, as a journalist she was often out for days at the time, traveling to other cities and staying out late. But when she had been gone for a few days without calling in to let me know what she was up to I got worried. I called her office and they told me that she hadn't checked in there for a week, and I called her sister who didn't know anything about her either. I called to everyone I knew but no one knew what had happened to her. I looked for her at all the witch meetings and places where I thought she could be, but I came up short."

"Did you ever contact the police?"

"Yes, and they probably just put her file in a stack somewhere, because they never really went anywhere with it. I'm happy Andrea hired you. Maybe we can find some answers."

"You do know that they found the body?" Sandra said, threading carefully.

"Yes. Andrea came by and informed me since she knew I had been trying to find her. I just wish we knew what actually happened and of course, who did it. I'll happily help you out in any way I can."

"Do you have any theory on who could have been wanting her harm?"

"That's just the thing. I can't think of anyone. Everyone is friendly, we're all sisters of nature, and I can't find anyone whom I wouldn't trust. Everyone might be a little quirky, but no one would murder someone else. Considering she was burned, I'm thinking it's no one in the witch community, but rather someone who doesn't like the witch community. But I don't know anyone like that, we haven't gotten any threats, no harassment, nothing of the sort."

"I do agree that it's most likely an outsider, someone with a big dislike of witches. Well, we do plan on attending the witch meetings, trying to find out what has happened. Is there anything we need to know about them?"

"Not really. We just get together for food and drinks. Then we have the ceremonies as well, but tomorrow tonight is just a meeting. We meet Tuesdays and Thursdays to discuss books, recipes and all sorts of stuffs. You might want to update your wardrobe though, none of us are as children of sunshine, like you." Misha smiled, looking over Sandra in her dress and sun-kissed cheeks. "You are of course welcome to wear whatever you seem fit, but you might blend in a little bit better if you're not in the colors of the rainbow."

"I'll have a change of clothes before." Sandra smiled, handing her business card to Misha. "Here's my numbers, if you think of anything don't hesitate to let us know."

"I won't. Will I see you tomorrow night?"

"Absolutely." Sandra smiled, before she put the empty cup of coffee on the table, got to her feet and shook Misha's hand, Madison following suit.

"Thank you so much for meeting with us. We'll see you tomorrow tonight."

Misha followed them to the door, and Madison and Sandra moved into the car once again.

"Lunch." Sandra smiled, turning the car around as she headed towards Le Bonne Cuisine, the restaurant Aurore owned in the central area of Washington D.C. She hadn't had time to go there since returning to the States, but now she was eager to see the renovations done to the place. Madison had been there several times in Kelly's company since moving to Washington, but Sandra had not. Sandra did know that if you came in towards the restaurant from another direction, there were VIP-parking on the backside where they could easily find parking. Heading into the restaurant, they immediately headed over to the VIP-booth reserved for them. They did spend quite a lot of time in this restaurant and Aurore had sorted out their own table up on a platform, hidden away from the rest of the area but with a good view of the whole place.

Moving over to the booth, they found Kamili and Kelly, who had also been joined by Kris. Sandra gave Kris a long, close hug before everyone sat down on the blue booth seats.

"How you been Sandra?" Kris smiled happily, Sandra answering her with just as bright of a smile.

"All good, nice with some time to get the head straight. _You_ look gorgeous."

Kris laughed out loud to the comment. She was dressed in a dark blue pant suit, a white blouse underneath the suit jacket, accompanied by black shoes with a low heel as her ankles still couldn't handle the high heels as she used to wear all the time before. Her hair hanging loosely on her shoulders, curling in towards the neck. It was what she normally wore to work, and now she was out for what she had called a 'business lunch'. All of her close co-workers knew exactly that she always met up with Kelly when she used that term.

"Thank you. I do feel good."

"You found life." Sandra stated.

Kris smiled, looking over to Kelly who sat smiling at them while sipping her water. No one could be happier than Kelly that Kris had returned to her former self. She still had bad days, and she still had nightmares and troubles with her ankles, but the good days outweighed the bad, and that was what mattered the most. Kris had thrown herself into work, and into raising her twins to become little fantastic people. She had things to live for – friends, children, a career. She missed her husband, but knowing he wouldn't want her to ruin herself, and realizing as they were down in the prison that she actually wanted to live, she had turned her life around. And she was happier than she had been in a long time.

"I found life." Kris repeated, before putting her head on its side. "Did you?"

"I sure did." Sandra grinned, and Kris patted her arm as the two of them sat down.

Sandra and Madison ordered their food, and as they all waited the decided to catch up on what had been going on during the morning. Sandra and Madison filled them in on the two women they had met and told them that they were planning to go to the witch meeting the following day.

"Do you really think it's a good idea?" Kelly asked, hesitant to the idea of them getting to deep undercover. She didn't want anyone getting hurt on their first case, or the upcoming cases either for that matter.

"I do. I don't think it will be trouble. We can go there and snoop around."

"Are you both going?" Kelly asked, looking from Sandra to Madison, then back at Sandra.

"I do think it's a good idea if we both go. Safety in numbers." Sandra said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I agree." Kelly smiled. "Please just don't come back as a witch."

"We'll try our hardest." Sandra smiled, then turning to Kamili. "How was your morning? Did you get a hold of the newspaper?"

"Well, I did call the Prospect, pretending to be someone interested to get in touch with Alicia. I thought they would just tell me that she wasn't working there anymore, offer condolences or something, but they just told me that she was busy with work at the moment and they couldn't reach her. I just gave them my number and asked them to call me back if they heard anything."

"That's a bit weird, isn't it?" Madison said, her gut telling her that something was off.

"Sounds like they're hiding something." Kris said, then they were all interrupted as their food made its way out on the table.

"Thanks Heidi." Kelly said, smiling to the waitress who smiled happily back, heading back out into the kitchen.

"I agree with Kris. It definitely sounds like they're hiding something. Why wouldn't they just tell me that they didn't have her contact information, wasn't reachable, had quit, anything really would've made me less suspicious than 'she's busy at the moment'." Kamili said, digging into her salad.

"I do think this will mean undercover work." Kelly said, sighing a little bit as she looked around between her angels.

"Don't worry Kelly, I'll be careful." Sandra smiled, giving her a small wink, knowing she would be the one to head out into the field. Madison was too inexperienced, Kamili not ready for undercover work yet.

"We'll use the afternoon and tomorrow to sort out a cover story for you." Kamili said, looking over to Kelly who nodded in agreement.

"We should spend tomorrow getting ready for the evening, as Misha said, we need a change of clothes."

"I don't think I own the right wardrobe." Madison smiled, but guessing her wardrobe were at least better than Sandra's.

"I _know_ I don't own the right wardrobe." Sandra laughed. "I threw out all my dark clothes except a funeral suit which I'm not putting on anytime soon. But don't worry, I know where we can go shopping."

As they finished up their lunch, sitting back talking and having a cup of coffee, Jill and Aurore suddenly moved up to the table. Sandra, who hadn't seen either of them in a long time, instantly moved up to hug them both.

"Congratulations Jill." Sandra smiled as the two of them broke apart.

Jill smiled happily, a hand on her stomach that was already beginning to show quite the bump. Sandra could easily see though that her smile didn't reach her tired eyes, like the Munroe-smiles normally did.

"You okay?" Sandra asked carefully, rubbing Jill's upper arm.

"I'm okay." Jill said. "Just having a bit of a hard pregnancy so far."

Sandra nodded, understandingly. "Let me know if I can help out in any way. I'm always a happy babysitter, and a fairly good masseuse."

"Thanks Sandra." Jill said, then changing the subject. "Have you checked out the club yet?"

"I have not. I was planning to do that before I took off now."

"Come on, we'll show you around." Aurore smiled as the gang got to their feet.

"I'll go back to the office." Kamili smiled, Kelly following her as Kris headed off to her work. Madison followed Sandra, Jill and Aurore, as Aurore led the way through the back doors of the club, the route she used when she walked from the kitchen to the bar. It went right behind their VIP-booth, closed off to the other guests, but the guests from the restaurant could use a marble staircase to reach the club instead.

"Welcome to The Upstairs." Aurore smiled, throwing her arms out. "Well, it's not so breathtaking in the daylight. It's supposed to be observed in the night."

"Aurore, don't sell yourself short." Sandra said, her eyes wandering around at the beautiful interior. Black glossy floor, a grand bar with the front made of blue and turquoise glass mosaics and a dark marble top with black wooden bar stools surrounding it. Moving further in Sandra found a multi-colored dancefloor with disco ball hanging from the roof, a DJ booth by the corner and a small stage where they could play live music.

Aurore showed Sandra around to two different dance floors, another bar which was similar to the first one but in red glass instead of blue. Bathrooms, a seating area, smokers' corner. It was all there, and it was all really elegant, all of it shouting of Aurore's stunning taste. Aurore stood back a bit as she let Sandra walk around and just take it all in, sculptures, paintings. She soon turned back to Aurore, smiling.

"I can't wait to come here dancing."

"You are most welcome. Just go through the backdoor so you don't have to line up until I've had time to introduce you to my bouncers."

"Are you working tonight?"

"No, we're just here sorting things out now, we will be heading home in a few hours. Mondays are my day off."

"You should have more than one day off a week Rory." Sandra chuckled.

"I like it here. It doesn't even feel like working." Aurore smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

Sandra smiled, then put her head to her side as she watched Jill who was standing further back in the room, both hands against the back of a couch, leaning forwards. Aurore turned to see what she was looking at and sighing loudly the two of them walked over to Jill. As they walked, Aurore turned to Sandra.

"She's been sick ever since she got pregnant. It's rarer to see her energetic and well right now than bending over."

"How far along is she?"

"Only about 12 weeks. 28 weeks to go, we're all counting down." Aurore said quietly as she reached Jill, grabbing her shoulders and gently moving her over to sit down in the couch, Jill leaning forward, focusing on taking deep breaths with her eyes closed hard.

Aurore was just about to head away towards the bar when Madison came hurrying back, a big glass with water and lemon slices, kneeling in front of Jill she held it up towards her nose. The fresh lemon scent made Jill open her eyes, and taking the glass with shaky hands from Madison, just breathing with her nose in the glass for a few moments before drinking, slow and careful sips as Sandra put her hand on Jill's neck, carefully massaging it, Jill leaning into the touch.

"Don't worry, it will pass." Aurore said, more to Sandra than Jill. "I hope."


	4. Chapter 3 - You Will Be Found

**Chapter 3.**

_Tuesday, August 6__th__, 1985._

* * *

The following day, after meeting up at the office to discuss what their afternoon had consisted off and having lunch together, Sandra knocked on the door of Janet's house once before letting herself and Madison in with her key. The rottweiler Raven immediately met her in the door, giving off one loud bark whilst wagging her tail and licking Sandra's hand, before walking over to Madison that she had yet to meet. Raven was then immediately surrounded by Sandra's two Jack Russell terriers who Sandra had allowed to tag along for the day.

The dogs felt just as home over here, as Sandra hadn't brought them with her to Norway. It had been a long discussion before she left weather or not to bring the dogs with her as she would be gone for so long. But the climate change, the long flight… The dogs had been happy to stay with Janet and Devin, but Sandra was so happy to get them back, her little chipmunks. Sandra only had one cat left, and he had been staying with Janet as well, just as Captain James, Sandra's parrot. She was so happy to have them all back in her house, even if she knew they had a great time here. But they were her babies and she had missed them dearly.

Sandra walked inside and rounded a corner towards the living room, finding Janet. She was seated in the couch, breastfeeding Benjamin, who had two weeks until he was 4 months old already. Charlie had given Janet a very generous parenting leave which she was happy to take on. Basically, she was allowed back when she wanted to, but also allowed to take as much time off as she felt she needed. With Madison joining in there was no rush for the new mother to hurry back. She looked tired but smiled as her blonde friend walked up and kissed her cheek.

"Have you met?"

"Yeah, we've been introduced." Janet smiled, nodding to Madison. They had met in Kelly's company, but Madison had never been here in the house.

Raven placed herself by Janet's feet, with Sandra's dogs happily playing around her, the big rottweiler rolling onto her back as she playfully swatted at them.

"Please feel like home. Mi casa e su casa."

Madison smiled as she sat down in the couch, looking around as she took the place in.

"What are the two of you up to?" Janet asked curiously.

"We're going to attend a witch meeting." Madison smiled, scratching her head a bit.

"Oh! That sounds… crazy." Janet said, looking from Madison to Sandra.

"We started a new case yesterday; our client was a journalist interested in the occult and witchcraft and used to attend witch meetings. We're following her footsteps to see if we can find any leads." Sandra filled her in, and Janet nodded in understanding as she moved Benjamin up on her shoulder as he finished eating. Giving him a few minutes to swallow, Sandra then reached out her hands as Janet smiled and handed him over to her, Sandra happily rocking him on her arm. She still had trouble understanding that one of her best friends had suddenly become a mother to a little boy.

"Hei du min lille gutt. Tante Sandra er her nå og alt er bra." Sandra whispered to the little boy as he grabbed her finger with his tiny hand.

Madison looked confused to Janet who just smiled. "I believe Sandra is trying to teach my son Norwegian. I bet she's teaching him loads of stuff that he shouldn't know."

Janet took a second to just watch her friend with her son, it was such a heartwarming sight and she was sure that she would never grow tired of it. A few moments later she sighed before turning to Madison. "Not that the two of you are not welcome here, but was there a reason to why you popped by?"

"Oh!" Sandra said, letting out a laugh as she removed the attention from the boy for a second. "We need to borrow clothes that will fit a witch."

Janet let out a hearty laugh, leaning back into the couch, shaking her head for a second before getting to her feet with a groan, gesturing to them to follow her. Guiding them to the closet, which Sandra of course already knew where it was, she gestured to it as she laid down on her belly in the bed.

"Help yourselves."

Madison moved into the walk-in closet and couldn't help but to let a small laugh escape past her lips before looking out into the bedroom again. "This is the darkest closet I've ever seen."

"I'm just a ray of pitch black." Janet mumbled as she had buried her face into a pillow, allowing herself to have a nap as she knew someone else was watching her son.

Madison smiled as she headed back into the closet, trying to find something that would fit for the evening as Sandra stood right behind her, Benjamin sucking on her thumb while the mother drifted off to a well-deserved sleep behind them.

* * *

"Mama!"

Kamili hugged the 7-year old Yasmin who met her by the door as she came home, happy to always be met with smiles as she walked into her house. Her little girl was growing up so fast, and in the same time as she was sad that her little girl was not so little anymore, she was so happy to see her develop into a little woman. Yasmin grabbed her hand and pulled her into the kitchen, where Kamili realized they had company.

"Hello." Kamili smiled, walking up to her husband to give him a kiss, then moving further in, patting her sister's back.

"Nice to see you here. It was ages ago! It feels like you've been working non-stop lately."

"It's been crazily busy, I _have_ been working non-stop, lot of double shifts. But it paid out." Tara said, grinning, her eyes darting over to the table where Kamili noticed the champagne glasses and the very expensive bottle.

"What are we celebrating?" Kamili asked, looking between the two.

"I don't know, Tara has been holding out on me, but now you're here so Tara, tell us, I'm dying with excitement." Morgan laughed.

Tara grinned as she walked over, popped the champagne and poured the bubbling liquid in three glasses, handing them out, before raising her own.

"I would like to introduce you to the new Chief of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University Hospital."

Kamili almost dropped her glass in her excitement, putting it away she quickly pulled her sister into a tight hug.

"That is sensational! I'm so proud of you!"

"I found out a while back, but I haven't been wanting to tell anyone until it was official, and all papers signed."

Morgan gave his sister-in-law a hug as well. "Massive congratulations. You deserved that."

"Thank you, Morgan. Can you believe that next year, it's been 15 years since I first put my foot in that hospital, terrified on my first day of Med school." Tara smiled, taking a sip of her champagne, leaning back against a chair, before she felt someone pull at her clothes. Looking down, she saw her niece.

"I want a hug too."

Tara laughed, put the glass away and pulled the girl up into a hug, Yasmin wrapping her legs around Tara's hip to stay steady as she knew she was getting heavy.

"What's going on?" Yasmin asked confused.

"I got a new position at work, a promotion."

"Do your colleagues have to call you chief now?" Kamili grinned, enjoying her champagne.

"Of course not." Tara said, before turning her face into a wicked grin. "Boss will do."

"Boss." Yasmin said, poking her finger at Tara's nose.

"You know it."

Kamili stood silent as she observed her sister. She might be happy and excited, but Kamili could see the sweat on her brow, and she could see that her sister was getting out of breath by holding Yasmin. A cough slipped out of her mouth and she put Yasmin down to the floor, moving away from the food with the bend of her arm towards her mouth as she coughed violently.

"Are you alright Tara?" Kamili asked, patting Tara's back as she coughed, noticing how sweaty she was. She had felt the heat earlier, but thought it was just from being in the kitchen.

Tara nodded, reaching for a glass of water that Morgan was handing her as the coughing subsided, drinking it all down in one go. "I'm fine."

Kamili looked at her for a moment before reaching over to touch her forehead. Tara immediately swatted her hand away.

"Stop that."

"You're hot."

"I'm fine. Absolutely. Don't worry. Let's sit down to eat."

Kamili didn't believe her sister for a second, and she shared a look with Morgan as they moved the food from the stove to the table, the whole family sitting down to eat, changing the subject.

"How does it feel to be back at work?" Tara asked.

"Weird, but alright." Kamili smiled. "It feels so odd being back there, but it in the same time it felt really good to be back to work. Sandra seems great, she looks so happy. Madison has been following her around all day today and yesterday. Kelly and I have been in the office making phone calls and sorting out cover stories."

"I'm glad to hear Sandra is doing better." Tara smiled. "She made us real worried there for a while."

"Yeah. The mountain air and Mary has helped her immensely and it just makes me so relieved, especially for her sake." Kamili nodded, a genuine smile spreading. She still remembered that night 7 months ago as if it were yesterday, and her mind wandered.

* * *

_Kamili winced at the sound of the phone breaking the silence in the dark night. Morgan had already picked the phone up by the time she was getting alert, and as her eyes fully opened, she was met by the phone being handed over to her. _

"_Yes?" She yawned, looking over her shoulder to see what time it was. Her alarm clock blinked 03:41._

"_I need help Kam."_

"_I'm on my way, just hang on." Kamili said immediately, giving the phone back to Morgan. The way Sandra had whispered that had made Kamili's stomach turn, all senses on high alert. Something was bad, and she had to get there fast. _

"_What's going on?" Morgan said tiredly as he watched his wife gingerly move out of the bed, wincing as she stretched, finding clothes to put on._

"_I don't know. Something wrong. I need to go to her." _

"_You shouldn't drive."_

_Kamili took a pause, knowing Morgan was right. She walked over to the phone while pulling her jeans on and quickly dialed Janet's number. Even in that household the man was the faster as Devin answered, leaving the phone to a yawning Janet. _

"_Janet. Sandra just called, she sounded really bad and we need to get over there straight away."_

"_I'm up." _

"_Can you pick me up? I don't feel safe driving yet." _

"_I'm on my way." _

_Kamili finished dressing before she moved downstairs, still moving gingerly and out of breath by every step. By the time she reached the sidewalk outside their home, Janet was already rolling up next to her. Kamili slid down into the passenger seat as Janet sped off. _

"_What did she say?" Janet asked, her face stone cold, jaws clenched hard. Kamili noticed that she was still wearing her pajamas and sneakers without socks. She had just obviously gone straight from her bed to the car._

"_She just said she needed help, but it was not what she said… It was the way she said it. She sounded so… Vulnerable. Small. Slurred. Crying. I don't know, there was something in her voice… I think she's been drinking." Kamili said, picking up Janet's car phone as she tried to call Sandra back. Sighing she put it back down again. "Just a busy signal. She probably didn't put the receiver back on after we talked." _

_Janet nodded as she pressed the pedal harder into the mat. Angry with herself for not checking on her friend more often, angry with herself for not making sure Sandra was okay. She knew something was off and it had been for a while, but she had been so focused on work and her own life that she hadn't really dealt with it. She knew she should've, she should've done it sooner._

_With Janet driving, it didn't take them long before she skidded up onto Sandra's driveway, Janet and Kamili both throwing themselves out of the car, but both of them being injured not too long ago, they were not as agile as they had hoped. Janet held her keys in her hand as she reached the door, unlocking it and moving in. The dogs met them immediately, but the women barely noticed them as they hurried into the house. _

"_Sandra?!" Janet shouted, hurrying up the stairs. Being 6 months pregnant and having a 2-month-old gunshot wound did slow her down a little bit, but she was still up the stairs a long time before Kamili who found stairs very difficult still. Hurrying through the floor she exhaled for a moment as she saw Sandra._

_She was sitting in her favorite spot, up in the large window, back leaning against the wall, feet up in front of her, pulled up towards her chest. She kept her heavy head back against the wall, eyes closed hard while tears quietly rolled down her cheeks. Janet walked slowly towards her, not wanting to scare her, and the relief she had felt a few seconds ago was instantly washed away as she saw the gun in Sandra's shaky hand, resting in her lap and the more than half-empty bottle of tequila next to her. The phone mounted on the wall right next to her was hanging down towards the floor, dangling from the cord._

"_Sandra?" Janet whispered, afraid to get too close. She had never seen her like this. Janet stood still for a few more minutes as she just observed her friend, terrified of moving too sudden in the same time as Kamili, dangerously out of breath, came up next to her. Janet reached back and grabbed Kamili's wrist as Kamili reached her side. _

"_Shit." Kamili panted as she saw the same sight in front of her as Janet was staring at. "Stay back Janet, make sure you're not in the line of fire, I don't think she's in control."_

_Kamili took a few deep breaths, trying to control her breathing, before she walked closer to Sandra, one step at the time, observing her friend's every move while keeping one eye on the gun, making sure she wasn't in the line of fire either. She knew Sandra wouldn't shoot them deliberately, but she could easily see that Sandra was not herself right now._

"_I'm not sure I can do this anymore." Sandra whispered, almost incoherent as she was slurring the words, her eyes still closed but absolutely aware that her best friends were right there. "It's too hard." _

"_What is too hard sweetie?" Kamili asked, creeping closer, already knowing the answer. _

"_Life. I no do life more. __Jeg vil hvile, jeg er så trøtt." __Sandra mumbled, her words so fussy and languages mixed, it was hard to make out what she was saying, but what did come out scared both Kamili and Janet to the core._

_Kamili threaded carefully as she walked the last steps up to her friend._

"_Sandra, sweetie. I'm just going to move this gun away, okay?"_

_Sandra kept mumbling in Norwegian but didn't show any signs of interrupting her as Kamili carefully reached over and grabbed the gun. Sandra wasn't fighting her, but she wasn't letting go of it either, holding a death grip around the metal weapon, her index finger uncomfortably close to the trigger. Kamili took a breath as she secured it while it was still in Sandra's hand before she carefully, but determined, pried Sandra's fingers away from it, backing up with the gun behind her back, handing it to Janet. Janet immediately removed the bullets from it, putting the gun away and dropping the bullets into her pajama pocket. Kamili moved forward again, placing her hand on Sandra's shoulder, the hand moving up towards her cheek. Her skin was cool but sweaty, her breathing seemed shallow. _

"_She's here now." _

_Kamili drew her eyebrows together in confusion, trying to figure out if she had understood Sandra's slurred words correctly. She already guessed the answer to her upcoming question, and it scared the living daylights out of her, but still she had to ask. _

"_Who is here?"_

"_Melissa. She's sitting right there. Can't you see her Kam? Hun sitter der." Sandra said, eyes looking up, her head tilting down into Kamili's hand. Sandra looked right in front of her for a few moments, before closing her eyes again, her next couple of words coming out in a whisper underneath her breath. "I want her to go away. Jeg må hvile." _

_Kamili tried to ignore Janet's loud sobs behind her as she grabbed a hold of Sandra's chin. Not too hard, but firm enough. _

"_Honey, I need you to look at me instead. Don't look at her. Look at me." _

_Sandra's eyes cracked open, wet with tears, and she slowly turned her head to look at Kamili. Her eyes were bloodshot, pupils dilated, not focusing on anything and she had trouble holding her head up. She had been drinking way too much, that was easy to tell, but Kamili had a bad feeling in her stomach that it wasn't just alcohol involved here._

"_Honey, have you taken something?" Kamili asked, worried, now holding a firm grip of Sandra's chin, and Sandra's head bopped slightly in what could've been a nod. "Sandra, answer me. What did you take?"_

"_Jeg vet ikke." Sandra whispered, eyes closing. _

"_Sandra!" Kamili said, her voice getting harsh due to fear as she gently shook Sandra's head slightly, now with both her hands cupping Sandra's face. "In English. What did you take?"_

"_I dunno." Sandra whispered; her body so limp that it was only held up by Kamili's arms. Janet moved into the bathroom and soon came back out with several empty pill bottles in her hand. She just gave Kamili a worried look before picking the phone up and called for help, uselessly drying her tears with the sleeve of her pajamas, while hiccupping out the information needed. _

_Kamili got Sandra to move around, her legs hanging down from the window, and she leaned forward to rest her forehead against Kamili's shoulder, digging her nose into the soft curve of Kamili's neck, crying violently as her whole body shook, her arms flailing out and hugging Kamili's head, Kamili reaching up best she could and wrapping her arms around her, trying to keep her grounded as they swayed, a hand tightly on the back of Sandra's head, tears welling up in Kamili's eyes as well as her heart ached for her friend. How could they have been so blind?_

"_We're here sweetheart. We're gonna help you, we're gonna get you professional help. We'll make you feel better. I'll make you smile again; I give you my word. We hear your calls."_

* * *

"I'm happy she's better Kamili." Tara said again, knowing what her sister was thinking about.

Kamili nodded, smiling to her sister, grateful that Sandra had called her that night. As Sandra had slept for almost a week afterwards and then allowed herself to enter rehab, they had raided her bathroom cabinet, clearing out all the old drugs from different mishaps that Sandra had taken a massive amount of that evening. They had all talked about it afterwards, Kelly and the other angels as well, all of them upset that they hadn't noticed it earlier, that they hadn't helped her earlier.

They promised each other to talk to when in worry or sadness, and to trust in each other when needing help. Sandra had promised as well that she would talk to her friends too when she returned home from the psychiatric ward. They had talked quite a bit before she left for Norway, all of them having sessions together with Sandra and Mary as well, which had helped so much. They had all understood how important _talking_ could be, and they had all learned that if you ever feel like you can't get up, you could just give a shout, and someone will come running.

_Even when the dark comes crashing through  
when you need a friend to carry you  
and when you're broken on the ground  
You will be found_

_So let the sun come streaming in  
'cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again  
If you only look around  
You will be found_

[You Will Be Found – Dear Evan Hansen]

* * *

In another part of town, Kelly had arrived to what she thought to be her house but might actually be the circus. She was as always met with the wagging tail of Oscar, their golden retriever, and little boy Jacob who came running. Kelly pulled him up into her lap as she kneeled down to scratch Oscar's stomach. She kissed the top of Jacob's head as she looked around at the mess.

She should be used to it as this was nothing out of the ordinary, but they always seemed to be able to surprise her. Walking in through the door, there was noise and kids everywhere. She was certain she only had two kids but there were a lot more than two in here. Just standing back for a moment, she had a look around the room.

Her oldest daughter Ella, on her last year before becoming a teenager, was in the kitchen with Aurore as always, learning new tricks every day. Kelly had no idea when her little girl had grown up, to her Ella was still that girl she had found at the orphanage, but she was beginning to realize that her little girl would soon be a proper woman. Her youngest, Sarah, turning 6 years old in a few weeks' time, was sitting in the couch leaning against Kris who also had Jessica in her lap. Kris' twins, Jacob and Jessica, had turned 3 years old, and once again, Kelly had no idea where the time had gone. They had been babies just a little while ago, and now they were actual little people with opinions, likes and dislikes. And speaking of babies - Jill's little Annie was already 18 months old. And shocking to everyone, she was the sweetest and calmest in the group. She happily played by herself and with the others, she slept during the nights, seemed to like all food _(not shocking to everyone, of course)_ and was just so easy to deal with. Jill and Damien couldn't understand how they had been so lucky and had been eager to try again. They had found out just a few weeks ago that they were once again expecting.

Jill was completely different this pregnancy though. She had experienced a little bit of dizziness with Annie but not much to complain about. This time was different as Jill spent most of her time with her head in the toilet, had proper fainting spells and felt very sick in general. As she was always sick, they were not surprised that she had lost her appetite but it still very much worried all of them. Jill had concluded that it had to be a boy this time because _"no woman would ever do this to another woman", _which Damien of course laughed at and said that "_yeah, they would_". Now she was seated in her favorite armchair in the living room, blanket over her, head back on a pillow with her eyes closed.

Peggy Lou Sparks was on her back on the floor, happily playing with Annie. Aurore's little sister came into their lives like a firework going off at nineteen years old but was now already twenty-one. She was studying to become a veterinarian and worked part time at the Smithsonian National Zoo. She was supposed to have moved out as soon as she found her own place, but she had not even begun to look for another place yet. She was just so happy here, and Aurore and Kelly had realized it had helped a lot to have a babysitter as Peggy studied a lot from home. Aurore and Kelly were not the only two who had realized that either, as both Jill and Kris happily left their kids with her. For some reason, all the kids behaved like happy little saints as they were around Peggy. Maybe it was because of all the weird animals she would bring home. Fluffy, the iguana that Jill and Damien had gotten as Annie was born, had moved out as he got too big to live in the house and needed to be moved to a habitat better suited for him than a family house in Washington. And Kelly couldn't help but to groan at herself as she often realized that she really missed that big, stupid, dumb lizard.

Kelly looked at Kris, with Jessica and Sarah, and Kris looked up to meet her eyes. Becoming a widow, Kris had moved from the house she and Tommy had made a home as it was too hard for her to stay there and had happily bought a small house just down the street from where Kelly and Jill already lived. She had buried herself in work once again and climbed the ranks fast within the FBI. She didn't do any field work anymore though but stayed at the office and sorted things out for the team. She was trying to learn more about the technology that was expanding all the time, and she had just switched her Commodore 64 to a brand-new Macintosh which she was very excited about and that no one else was allowed to touch, especially not Peggy.

"Mommy!" Sarah shouted happily as she ran over to her mother as well and Kelly put Jacob down to hug Sarah, then rising to her feet.

"Hi sweetheart. How was school today?"

"It was fun! We talked about trees."

"That sounds interesting. I want to hear all about it during dinner, okay?"

"Dinner?" The magic word made little Jessica's head pop up from her mother's chest where it had been resting.

"10 minutes!" Aurore shouted from the kitchen, to which all women in the room, and some of the kids, immediately replied "Yes chef!" before giggling. It had become quite the habit in this house.

Jill was suddenly aware of Kelly's presence and she lifted a hand to wave hello.

"Where's Damien?" Kelly asked as she had Jill's attention.

Jill looked around as if expecting to see him in the room, before shrugging her shoulders, leaning her head back again.

Kelly turned her head to Kris who had leaned back in the couch with Jessica once again against her chest. "He's in New York in business."

Jill lifted her hand in a "_oh yeah that's right_"-gesture without lifting her head up and Kelly smiled before sinking down into the couch, shoulder to shoulder with Kris.

"How was your day?" Kris smiled gently. "How does it feel being back?"

"So far so good. I can't get over how nice it is to have Sandra back, it's been forever. I know Kamili and Janet really missed her."

"We all missed her. I'm happy she's back too. She looked really good." Kris said, relieved.

Kelly nodded and continued.

"Yeah, she seems to be back to her old, happy self. She accepted Madison nicely and they seem to get along fine."

"How is the case going?"

"It's still calm, so far. I do need to take a few hours after dinner to finish up the cover stories. I promised to stay close to a phone as well since Sandra and Madison are going to that witch meeting, just in case something happens."

"I'll help you out with the cover story if you want, it's always good fun."

"You're welcome to help. I'm allowing Kamili to be in charge of it but she's given me a few assignments to sort out."

"Is Kamili changing position?"

"No, I'm not letting her take my place just yet. I just thought it could be a fun challenge for her to up her game a bit." Kelly said, before turning her head and a wide smile spread across her face as Jacob crawled up into her lap with a book. "Hey, what do you got?"

"Peggy got me; Kelly read it."

Kelly looked down to the book before sighing loudly, turning to Peggy. "Why do you buy him books in which I can't pronounce anything?"

"Because dinosaurs are fascinating Kelly!" Peggy laughed, still on her back on the floor. "And Latin isn't that difficult."

"Oh, Jakey, did you hear that? Peggy will happily read that book to you." Kelly said, brushing Jacob's back as he smiled brightly, hurrying down to lie on his back next to Peggy as she laughed and took the book out of his hands, pointing excitedly at the dinosaurs as they opened the book.

"You're worried." Kris said quietly, looking up to Kelly's face, meeting her green eyes.

"Of course. It's a bit scary coming back, to send the girls back out into the field. We know better than anyone just how fast it can go south, and I don't want my girls killed or injured on the first case back."

"They should be alright. From what I gathered from Sandra there's nothing to worry about, just women who get together to eat and drink and talk about… whatever they talk about. There's no reason for Sandra and Madison to end up in trouble, at least not yet."

"Yeah, I know. I still have a really bad feeling about this."

"That's the detective in you, always thinking about the disasters that could happen. But have a little faith in the girls. They are rested, both body and mind, and they are more prepared than ever for this."

"I'm mostly worried about Madison. This time it's me who brought someone into it. We were all recruited by Charlie, so were my angels. All of us were seeking adventure and were excited about it. Madison is different. I was the one who convinced her to do this and if something happens to her it will be my fault."

"If something happens to her we will help her out, talk about it and if she decides she wants out, we'll let her out. But I think Madison wants adventure and excitement too, she just hasn't been given the chance."

"Maybe you're right."

"Of course I am." Kris smiled. "I'm always right. Now just relax. They'll do fine."


	5. Chapter 4 - Wicca

**Chapter 4. **

_Still Tuesday, August 6__th__, 1985._

* * *

"Well, at least people are driving here and not riding here on brooms. That does make me feel a little bit better." Sandra smiled as she parked her car amongst the others on a parking lot. Madison giggled nervously as she got out of the car, the two of them beginning to walk up towards the old wooden building, basically an old barn that seemed to bath in lights. Madison looked over to Sandra, not really sure about this, but Sandra gave her a reassuring smile.

"Just go with the flow Madison. No need denying why we're here since I told Misha the truth. Just ask around, someone will know something, but they might not know that it's a clue. It's our job to find the clues among the chit chatter. Anything feels weird, if you have a bad gut feeling or anything, just let me know straight away. We can mix around in there, but we leave the place together, no exceptions, even if someone just wants to show you something outside. Just tell them that you want me to see it as well and come get me."

Madison nodded; glad she wasn't alone. Sandra stopped for a second, turning towards her, Madison stopping as well to meet Sandra's eyes.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine. Just breathe."

Madison smiled, exhaling a little as Sandra once again picked up the pace, the two of them walking in towards the building. Pulling up the door and peaking in, they were instantly met by two women who walked up to them.

"Hi. Can we help you?"

"Hi." Sandra smiled, holding out a hand. "My name is Sandra, this is Madison."

"Hey, you made it!"

All four women turned as they saw Misha Evans come up to them, introducing the four women to each other. She then gestured for Sandra and Madison to follow her as she walked them inside, showing the area for them. It was an old barn, one massive open area with very high ceiling, all of it covered in lights. Mini-light strands where covering the ceiling, making it shine like stars, and lights were also covering the walls, tables and seating areas, both electrical and candles. Along one of the walls were two grand tables with food and drinks, and Misha pointed out that there were plenty of wine and beer, but if one preferred to be sober there were also lemonade and water. There was a little chest in the middle of it all where you could put some money for donations to help pay for it all, and both Sandra and Madison instantly put down a bill or two into it. They then followed Misha around as she introduced them to all sorts of women.

Everyone was dressed in black, most of them dressed in long black dresses, and Sandra smiled as she glanced over her own body and Madison's. They had ransacked Janet's closet and found two black dresses that fitted the dress code, long and dark. Sandra had pulled a black cardigan around her as well as she was quite bustier than Janet, at least before Janet had a kid. Sandra had let her hair lose though, with a good amount of hairspray she had made it a little bit more wild and crazy than it normally was, but the Scandinavian hair always had a mind of its own as it soon calmed back down again to her normal wavy curls. Madison had twinned her hair into two long pigtails that went down along each side of her chest. Both of them were wearing black boots, and quite a bit of jewelry.

With introductions over, Madison headed right, and Sandra headed left, straight into two groups to talk about the events going on and all sorts of things. People asked them both a lot about Alicia, and Sandra and Madison both answered that they didn't know anything about what had happened to her, not more than they had told Misha earlier. People were of course curious, some were worried, some were scared. Sandra felt that she could hold them back though, and conversations soon turned into other subjects. How much did Sandra know about witchcraft? Was she willing to learn?

* * *

In the other end of the room, Madison were sitting with a group of women, talking about the sky. They had quickly realized that this was one of Madison's big subjects, one she could talk about for weeks as she had been studying it for quite a while. They were fascinated in the stories she could tell them, and she happily shared what she knew. How to read horoscopes, how planets, moons and stars lined up and what it meant to the people.

"Tell me about me then." One of the women, who had introduced herself as Joanna, asked and Madison smiled gently.

"When is your birthday?"

"October 10th 1952."

"Libra. Air. Venus. Libras are known to be very selfless and considerate, often putting others needs in front of their own. They're usually very patient, non-judgmental, the only zodiac that is connected to air which would mean that if something catches your interest you will probably work tirelessly in your quest for knowledge and understanding. Venus is your ruling planet, but you have influence both with Saturn and Uranus as you were born in the second Devan. Venus is, as most people know, the planet of harmony while both Saturn and Uranus send you discipline and patience. I understand that it's difficult to accept the same support back that you're so happy to give others, but you do need to understand that weakness will never ruin your progress."

"I'm Josie." A girl said, dropping down into the couch next to Joanna. "I'm born November 29th."

"So, a Sagittarius then." Madison smiled. "Fire. Jupiter. Normally born with the good-girl syndrome – always trying to be the best at everything, but also very kind and trustworthy. Others feel protected and safe around you. Being of the fire element, I bet you are very versatile, enthusiastic, and Jupiter being your ruling body the Sagittarius is said to have a lot of wits. I bet you like to travel but don't like routine, and you love surrounding yourself with people that you can guide and motivate. The people born under Sagittarius are warm-hearted but can sometimes be considered a bit dreamy, sometimes vain, and they prefer to follow their own interests, sometimes forgetting about the consequences."

"I'm November 14th." A redheaded woman in her mid-30's said, nudging Madison's arm as she sat down by the table with a tray of glasses and a jug of lemonade as well as a bottle of wine, handing them out around the table. Madison turned down the wine, but happily accepted a glass of lemonade before telling the woman what she knew about the mentioned date.

"Scorpio." Madison smiled, turning to face her. "Water. Pluto. Scorpios are the people full of mystery, complexed and troubled by nature with desires that are almost impossible to satisfy, which has to do with the eighth house, and the opposite second. Pluto holds the enthusiasm and the spiritual discerning between truth and lies, while water symbolizes renewal. It's not uncommon for Scorpios to base their actions upon feelings instead of reason, they are normally very detailed, incredibly passionate people and they love to live their lives without worries. Try not to overthink too much, and don't be too resentful when people don't listen to you."

The girl next to Madison was grinning widely, the description fitting her very well. Now she nodded towards Madison's chest. "I guess we might be quite similar then, as I can see that you're a Scorpio too."

Madison's hands moved up towards her necklace. She had carried her golden necklace since she was accepted to school to study astrophysics. It was a gold chain, with the Scorpio sign – it looked like the letter m, finished off with an arrow to the right.

"Yes. I'm November 11th." Madison smiled.

"I'm Annabelle." The other Scorpio smiled, extending her hand. "But maybe you already knew that?"

Madison couldn't help but to laugh. "I'm very good at astrophysics but I'm not a mind-reader."

"That's good to know." Annabelle laughed, the others around the table agreeing with her. "I hear you are investigating Alicia's disappearance?"

"Yes. We don't really know anything yet though; we just started the investigation."

"Is that the only reason to why you are here tonight?" Joanna asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"Well our main purpose is to follow Alicia's known steps to see if we can track her to find some answers, but then again, I do find the Wiccan world very fascinating, having the sky as my main subject. I've understood that it's a main part of what you believe in."

"It truly is, and you and your friend are most welcome here no matter what your intentions are. Please just let us know if there's anything we can do or help out with." Josie smiled, refilling the glasses with lemonade.

"Anything that could lead us to answers are happily received." Madison smiled to the woman next to her, looking around at the others as well. Joanna, the Libra, couldn't help but to let out a chuckle.

"If we find out who the killer is, we will let you know."

"I never said that she was dead." Madison said carefully, rising an eyebrow in Joanna's direction.

Joanna was a bit taken aback, but then shrugged her shoulders. "But she has to be. That's the only reason I can see to why she's not here, and to why she's not publishing her stories anymore. She just stopped showing up to all the meetings and ceremonies. She loved all of us and she loved her job, I can't see any other theory than her being dead."

"I agree with that." Josie said sadly, the hint of tears in her eyes, several of the other girls also nodding in agreement. "She wouldn't just leave us. We were her family."

Madison nodded in silence, just looking around at the group of girls, trying to see if someone looked a little more uncomfortable than the other, someone looking away, pretending not to listen, but she couldn't see any details that could be clues about what had happened. Sighing, she took a big mouth of the lemonade, leaning back into the chair as Josie began telling her how to make her own tea with herbs that she grew in her own garden.

* * *

Hours passed, and Sandra had moved around to the different groups of people while Madison had been quite stuck in the same couch, but different people coming to join her table. Sandra tried to make her way around to talk to everyone, and she was also secretly taking pictures of everyone with a camera hidden in jewelry that Kelly had given her. Kelly had told her that she had gotten the idea from Freddy the Fox, a diamond thief that they had helped out once upon a time. Sandra had been a bit starstruck upon reading his book, seeing the dedication to the angels in the beginning of it.

As the night was creeping into the small hours, a lot of people had dropped off already but many of the women in the barn was just waking up. This was their time of the day to shine, to sit and gaze at the stars, to tell stories from the beginning of times in small groups.

Sandra had spent the last hour with Misha and a few more women and was now leaned back into a couch, getting tired but not really ready to go home just yet.

"What do you know about Wicca?" Misha asked, leaning forwards to Sandra.

"Honestly? Nothing at all." Sandra smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, why don't you sit back and let me tell you." Misha smiled, Sandra gesturing for her to continue. "Wicca is considered to be a nature-based pagan religion, we celebrate the solstices and equinoxes."

"Stop, you already lost me." Sandra laughed. "English is not my mother tongue, what was that word? Equinoxes?"

"It's when the plane of Earth's equator moves through the center of the sun, happening twice a year, the next one is 23rd of September."

"It's when the center of the visible sun is directly above the equator." One of the other girls nodded.

"Oh, I know of that. Jevndøgn is the Norwegian word for it. Go on."

"Now, how one lives varies a lot between the different individuals and groups, some believe in a female goddess and a horned god, but most of us here are atheists. We are very interested in herbalism and rituals, some of us are a bit more into it than others."

"What kind of rituals?"

"They are usually centered around the phases of the moon. We dance, drink, eat and sing. We don't really send offerings, but of course it has happened as part of some old tradition or ritual that someone found interesting. We do enjoy holding initiation ceremonies."

"What happens at them?"

"For that you will have to wait and see, if you decide to stick around." Misha smiled devilishly, Sandra rising her glass in salute.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Sandra asked, looking around.

"Most of us do." Misha smiled. "I sure do at least. I hope I get reincarnated as a cat. A happy cat, in a stable or something, sleeping on the horses and hunting mice."

"Sandra?"

Sandra's head twirled around upon hearing her name mentioned, and she turned to see the younger angel behind her, one hand on the couch and the other pressed towards her stomach.

"Madison, are you alright?" Sandra asked, instantly getting to her feet as she noticed how pale her new friend looked.

"I... I don't feel too good." Madison said, her voice cracking, as Sandra moved to her side, an arm around her waist.

"Come on, let's get some air."

"Do you need help?" Misha asked, moving to their side, but Sandra held up a hand and a grateful smile.

"Thanks, I got her, it's alright. It's been a long day; I'll take her home. Thank you for this evening, I'm sure we'll meet again."

"Next meeting is Thursday." Misha said quietly, observing them with worried eyes, but remaining still by the couches, watching as Sandra walked away with Madison.

Sandra guided a very unsteady Madison outside. She was very wobbly on her legs, walking slowly, eyes not focusing, and Sandra could feel sweat run down her back. Walking her over to her car she opened the passenger door and Madison slid down in the seat, head between her knees. Sandra walked to the trunk of her car and fished out a bottle of water before returning to Madison, crunched down in front of her with a hand on the back of her head, helping her drink some of the water.

"How much did you drink Madison?"

Madison shook her head violently, them looked up at Sandra. "No, I didn't, I promise. They offered me wine, but I don't want to drink on the job, so I said no and just had some of that lemonade."

"How much of the lemonade did you drink?" Sandra asked, confused. She had been drinking of the lemonade as well, and she felt fine.

"A few glasses."

"Do you remember if someone served you the lemonade?"

"I think her name was Annabelle. She took off a while ago." Madison mumbled, drinking more water. The cool air and cold water helped her head, but she still felt really crappy. "I don't feel drunk; I just feel sick."

"Was there someone else at your table as well?"

"Joanna. Eum, and Josie. Typical Sagittarius." Madison said, adding the last with a chuckle, then groaned quietly as she leaned forward, moving her hand to her face.

"Okay. Well, let's get you out of here." Sandra said, moving around her car she pulled the roof off to the get to the fresh, rather cool air, helping Madison to move into the car before pulling a blanket from the trunk, wrapping it around her before Sandra got in and drove off, her focus still on Madison who was drifting off in the seat next to her. A few minutes down the road, she looked over to Madison who sat leaning back, both hands wrapped around her stomach.

"Madison? How do you feel? Do I need to drive to the hospital?"

"No, I'm okay. My stomach hurts a bit." Madison whispered tiredly. "I just want to sleep."

Sandra sat debating with herself for quite a while as Madison drifted off. Sighing to herself she picked up the phone and called down to the hospital, a bit surprised when Tara was the one who picked up in the other end. Talking to her for several minutes, Tara told her to take her home, but stay with her, check her pulse, breathing and temperature at all times and if anything seemed odd, bring her down immediately. Calming her nerves, she called Kelly to update her of the situation before driving home.

Reaching their destination, Sandra shook life into Madison before helping her into her house. She guided her to her guest room straight away, tucking her down into the bed, Madison sleeping by the time her head hit the pillow, still wrapped in the blanket. Sandra had the bottle from the car with her, and she filled it up with new cold water, placing it close to Madison, along with a bucket, just in case. Leaving the room and turning the lights off, she left the door halfway open so she could hear if something happened.

Her dogs were barking and jumping around at her feet as she walked out of the room, and she knew they wanted their evening walk. She could let them out into the garden, but they deserved a walk, having been inside for a while, longer than intended. But she didn't really want to leave Madison alone, and while trying to make up her mind she reached down to cuddle with them, the dogs rolling over, allowing her to rub their bellies, just as her front door suddenly opened. Sandra instantly rose to full height, twirling around with senses on high alert, ready for an attack.

"Sandra?"

Sandra relaxed as she heard Kelly's voice, and she walked out into the hallway to meet her, the dogs running up to Kelly, barking a little bit before calming down.

"Hi. I'm sorry if I'm intruding in your home." Kelly said, reaching down to pet the dogs but with her eyes on Sandra.

"No, not at all, don't be ridiculous, you're always welcome here. Now more than ever, I really need to walk the dogs, but I don't want to leave Madison alone. She's sleeping peacefully though, in the guest room. Do you mind staying by yourself for a moment?"

"Not at all, you take a walk, I'll sit down for a while."

"Just make yourself at home. I have a full fridge and there's tea and coffee in the kitchen if you want it. She seems alright but Tara told me to keep an eye on her."

Sandra headed out as Kelly moved into the house, making herself a cup of tea before walking into the bedroom where Madison lay sleeping. Kelly sat down in the soft armchair in the room, just watching Madison sleep. She wasn't sure what it was about this young woman, but she felt incredibly protective off her, and having Sandra telling her that Madison wasn't feeling well had made her stomach turn. As Aurore had been home and the kids asleep, she had headed out to check on her angels. Day two on the new case, day two of their fresh start, and she was already keeping vigil. She didn't like the thought of that, and she hoped that Madison had just been sensitive towards something served at the meeting, but the thought of her being drugged on her second day at work was nagging in the back of Kelly's head.

Kelly was still sipping her tea and watching Madison sleep as Sandra walked into the house about half an hour later, and Sandra immediately moved into the room to keep them company. Nudging Kelly's arm she walked up to the sleeping angel on the bed, just listening to her breathing and checking her pulse, please that it all seemed alright. Walking back towards Kelly, the mentor gave her a gentle smile.

"Go to bed, I'll take the first watch. I'll trade you when I have to close my eyes."

"You sure?"

"Yes, positive. Go sleep."

"Okay but wake me straight away if you need anything. Tara has the night shift at the hospital as well, if you have any worries, she said it's fine to call down."

"That's good to know." Kelly smiled. "Now go on, it's late, I'm sure you're tired."

Sandra smiled, giving Kelly's shoulder a gentle pat before she walked off, to the bathroom and then her bedroom. It did not take her very long to drift off, the two dogs joined her in the bed where Morris the Cat was already curled up into a ball since hours back.

Left awake in the house was Kelly, who sat still, listening to the breathing of her new angel, something inside of her telling her that she could not go to sleep. She had to watch this girl. Just as Madison, she couldn't explain her feelings, almost maternal feelings, towards this young girl. Maybe it was because she was so shy, maybe because she was so inexperienced. Kelly couldn't put her finger on it, but there was certainly something there, and Kelly felt she had to protect her from all the dangers of the world. Maybe bringing her into the business had been a very, very bad idea that she would forever regret, but in the same time she knew she could protect her better if she stayed by her side at all time, even if that meant bringing her into the business of crime.


	6. Chapter 5 - The Prospect

**Chapter 5. **

_Wednesday, August 7__th__, 1985.  
_

* * *

"Good morning." Kamili said, looking up from the papers on the desk in front of her as Sandra walked into the office.

"Hey." Sandra smiled, walking over to the bar from which the aroma of newly brewed coffee was coming from, but her eyes on Kamili. "Did you hear about last night?"

"No? What happened?" Kamili said, putting her mug down, looking up at her friend. She could tell that something had Sandra on edge.

"I think someone drugged Madison. She was feeling sick, so I took her home to my place. She fell asleep, slept peacefully for a about two hours before she woke up and felt really crappy for a few hours."

"Did you take her to the hospital?"

"No, but I did have phone contact on and off the whole night with Tara who was on the night shift."

"Was Tara working? She told me she would not do double shifts." Kamili said, frowning, then realizing that she was changing the subject. "No, wait, sorry, back to Madison, how is she now?"

"She stopped hurling around 6 am, and then she was a lot better this morning, getting it out of her system, I guess. Kelly is with her and they should be coming here at any second. They were just going to make a stop on the way."

"Do you know what happened? Who drugged her? And why?"

"I have no idea. She was sitting talking to people all evening and all seemed good, then all of a sudden, she told me she was feeling sick. She fell asleep in the car and I tucked her down at my place, Kelly came over and spent the night. We haven't really had time to talk about what went on last night but that will be the first point of order in the protocol this morning."

"Okay. In the meantime," Kamili said, handing Sandra a file. "I sorted your cover story. You got an interview with Alicia's former boss Martin Howard at 2 pm. All information I could come up with is in there."

"Well look at you, taking on a new role in the agency." Sandra grinned happily, reaching over the desk, taking the file from Kamili's hand before sitting down in one of the armchairs that were close to the desk, flicking the file open, beginning to eye through it. Kamili grinned as she leaned back in Kelly's chair, watching Sandra read the file, nodding with approval.

"And it all clears when checked out?"

"The phone number listed as your reference goes to my friend at the phone company who will direct the calls to Kelly, making sure you can't trace the phone number here. I got you a rental car that's parked outside and my friend Manny at the DMV has made sure that the plates are registered under your fake name. He will be coming by soon as well with your driver's license." Kamili said with a wide grin.

"You have a lot of friends."

"Remember what I did before I joined you? I do have connections everywhere; I just haven't used them that much lately. Some people are certainly worth keeping in touch with when it comes to connections."

"Awesome." Sandra smiled, eyeing through the rest of the file before putting it down on the desk.

"Well, of course. That's my middle name."

"I thought your middle name was Meria." Sandra said with a wink.

"Yes, Kamili Awesome Meria Diallo." Kamili grinned, before putting her head to the side. "What's your middle name? I've never heard it, I think. Janet uses my middle name all the time, but I never heard her mention yours."

"That's because she can't pronounce it. It's Hildegard, after my grandmother."

Kamili sat quiet for a second, trying to roll the name off her tongue, her Southern accent not helping.

"Hill-the-gard, roll the r, and try not to sound so _American_." Sandra said, trying to help out, but after trying a few more times Kamili waved Sandra off.

"Nah. I'll just call you Sandra Muppet One Olsen."

"Thanks." Sandra laughed.

"Hey, what's Janet's middle name? I guess it's not Muppet Two even if that's what I'll be using."

"Oh, it's Deborah. But you did not hear that from me. I know you threaten us with all sorts of things, _Kammy_, but I do think Janet might shoot you in the knee if you call her Deborah."

Kamili was laughing loudly already halfway through the sentence, already planning in her head how she was going to use this against Janet.

Sandra giggled along, before peeking into her file for a second. "But hey, my real name is actually Rose Davies. Did you come up with that all by yourself?"

"Sure did, Rosie." Kamili smiled, just as Kelly and Madison walked inside. Madison sat down in the couch as Kelly just had to look at Kamili with an eyebrow up for one second before Kamili got up from her seat, moving around to sit in the chair next to Sandra instead, Kelly sitting down in her chair behind the desk, calling Charlie who's voice soon echoed through the speaker phone.

"Morning Angels."

"Good morning Charlie."

"Kamili, have you been filled in on yesterday's events?" Charlie said, going straight to the point.

"Yes Charlie, Sandra filled me in, how are you Madison?" Kamili asked, leaning forward, turning to look over to Madison.

"I'm alright." Madison smiled, although looking tired and worn. "Just a bit tired."

"You take it easy today; we will send Sandra off to work." Kamili smiled, looking behind her towards Kelly who was reading through the file, nodding as well.

"Good job Kamili." Kelly smiled as she finished eyeing through the content. "Very good job, actually. I'm assuming everything is waterproof as well?"

"Of course. I have-"

There was a knock on the doorframe, and a man peaked his head in. Kamili smiled as she recognized the man in his 40's, the fine suit creating a big contrast against his large, but well-polished beard, and she got to her feet, walking up to him, giving him a quick hug.

"Ladies, this my friend Manny. Manny, these are my co-workers, Madison Lee, Kelly Garrett and Sandra Olsen. Our boss Charles Townsend is on the speaker phone."

Manny smiled as he shook all their hands, Sandra last and while shaking her hand he dug into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out a driver's license, smiling to Sandra. "Fairly sure this license says your name is Rose, not Sandra."

Sandra giggled as she took the license from Manny, looking at it, the same picture she used on her real license and some information being the same, but address and name being different. From what she had been told about Manny, it would probably not be a problem were a cop or similar ever to check the license out.

"Where does this address go?" She asked, curious.

"An apartment building where my brother works in the reception." Manny answered. "He will vouch for you if someone asks around, but also say that you're not in at the moment."

"Great. Thank you, Manny." Sandra smiled, holding out her hand which Manny happily shook again. "This will help out immensely."

"Anything for Kam." He grinned. "It's nice to finally meet you all. Have a good one and let me know if you need anything. Kamili has my direct phone number."

Kamili patted his upper arm before he left the room.

"Jeez, you have him twirled around your pinky. What do you have on him?" Kelly asked as Kamili and Sandra sat back down.

"Oh, I got enough on him to keep him in jail for many years." Kamili smiled, gesturing to the driver's license in Sandra's hand. "But we go way back, he's from Georgia as well, we used to hang with the rough crowd together on the streets of Atlanta. And oh, Charlie?"

"Yes Kamili?"

"I'm assuming you didn't hear any of that, right?"

"Of course not." Charlie said with a chuckle. "Let us change the subject. Before we send Sandra off to let her study, we need to talk about yesterday. Tell me everything."

Kelly, Kamili and Charlie all stayed quiet as Sandra and Madison replayed all that had happened during their evening, trying to describe who they had been talking with, what the discussions had been about, what the place had looked like, what had been going on, if anyone had seemed out of place. Sandra fished up a roll of film from her purse, handing it to Kamili.

"I tried to take as many pictures as I could without people noticing it. You take care of them, and I'll bring you more as we move on."

Kamili nodded as she took the film from Sandra, playing with it in her hand. "I'll have them developed and then try to see if I can match names to everyone. Hopefully someone will lead us further along on the case."

"That'd be good." Sandra smiled, then turned to Madison. "Do you have any idea why someone would want to drug you? Anyone finding the fact that you're a detective extra interesting? Anyone mentioning anything? I didn't hear any weird talk at all last night."

"No, I have no idea. Annabelle brought the drinks over before I had even talked to her and everyone drank from the same pitcher. Maybe someone slipped something as I wasn't looking, but I have no idea. The discussions were basically only about the stars and zodiacs, we discussed astrology and astrophysics, we didn't talk much about Alicia at all actually."

The other three nodded, staying quiet for a moment before Madison sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Well, Sandra will go to a meeting at the magazine at 2 pm. I will head into our dark room and get the photos developed. Do you know how to do that?"

Madison shook her head, and Kamili smiled at her. "That's alright, that means you get to help me, if you feel up to it. Then maybe the two of us, three if Kelly want to tag along, could go down to the area where Alicia's remains were found and see if we can find any clues. I talked to the police yesterday and they have of course combed the area without finding anything, but we could go down there anyway."

"Sounds like a good idea, they always miss something." Kelly smiled, rolling her eyes slightly. "I will follow you, we could-"

Kelly was interrupted as they all heard the sound of low heels on the parquet floor outside the room, and all of them turning to the door just as they saw Kris walk into the office.

"Hello ladies." She said, showing off her beautiful Munroe smile. She was dressed in her normal dress suit with the white blouse, but now she had put her hair into a tight ponytail. Under her arm was a little cardboard box.

"Agent." Charlie's voice boomed through the speaker. "Is that your sweet voice I hear?"

"Hi Charlie, how are you?"

"I am all well Kris. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine."

"What gives us the privilege?" Kelly asked, happy to see her friend drop in as Kris walked up to the couch.

"I got you girls something. Something you all should've gotten a while ago really."

Kris sat down next to Madison in the couch, and the others quickly gathered around the table. Kris looked at Kelly who were suddenly holding a small, thin knife, presenting the handle to Kris, and Kris used it to cut the box open, handing the knife back, then handing out the smaller boxes that she found inside. The angels and Kelly all opened them up, finding a little technical gadget, small enough to disappear in your hand, with a little display on top of it, a clip on the backside to attach it to your belt or otherwise.

"These are pagers." Kris smiled at their confused looks.

"Oh! Tara has a pager!" Kamili immediately said. "The others can contact her through it."

"Yes, exactly. One can call to a pager and a number will show up into that little display. Once you see it, you go to a phone and call the person trying to contact you."

"That's clever." Sandra smiled, holding her pager upside down, Kamili reaching over to twist it right, Sandra sending her an embarrassed look.

"We really need to get you up to date with the technology because I'm rather sure it's here to stay. If we don't keep up from the start it might be difficult to catch up and it's moving onwards fast."

The angels all nodded, happy to learn more.

"The FBI will happily sort you out with gadgets as long as you help us when we come calling." Kris grinned, looking over to Kelly who laughed.

"Of course we will."

"Good. Then I need to pop off." Kris smiled, giving the last pager to Sandra. "Give it to Janet."

"Will do."

"Good." Kris smiled before handing Kelly a business card with a number written down by hand on top of it. "That's my number, if you ever need it. Let me have yours when you're ready. Play around with them and let me know if they don't work."

The women around the table nodded, all of them busy looking at their new toys. Kris couldn't help but to laugh, shaking her head a bit before looking at her wristwatch. "Okay, I'm off. I'll talk to you later girls. Bye Charlie."

"Bye Angel." Charlies voice sounded as Kris gave Kelly's shoulder a quick pat, then Kris was out of the room just as quickly as she had entered, the echo of her low heels fading out, leaving the angels who were all busy fingering on their little devices, Kelly pulling up the manual to read it, trying to figure out how it worked.

"I will leave you to it Angels. I will talk to you later."

"Bye Charlie." They all chorused, followed by the sound of the phone clicking.

The four of them spent about half an hour making sure all of them knew exactly how the pagers were working, writing down each other's numbers and called each other several times before Sandra looked at her watch, beginning to get her stuff together.

"You're heading off?" Kamili asked, nodding to Sandra.

"Yes. I have an appointment with Mary at eleven, then I'll get ready to change into Rosie."

"That sounds good. Just page us if you need anything." Kamili grinned, Sandra waving as she exited the room, attaching her little pager to her belt.

* * *

At 1:45 pm, Sandra waltzed in through the doors of the Prospect, the magazine where Alicia had worked. She was dressed in a purple dress suit, a flowery blouse, a bag and high heels. Her hair was, as always, bouncing off her shoulders as she walked up to the reception, looking down through her glasses at the woman sitting there.

"Hi! My name is Rose Davies, and I have an appointment with Mr. Howard at 2 o'clock."

"Hi there. Please have a seat, I'll send him out."

"Thank you." Sandra smiled, sitting back into the couch. Looking around the entrance, she saw earlier copies of the magazine scattered around on the couch table and in holders on the wall, and she picked one up to eye through it, finding Alicia's column almost straight away. It was nothing that really stood out at first sight – just half a page somewhere in the middle of the magazine, Alicia's picture on top and then nothing but a wall of text. The subject of the issue had been food, and Sandra could tell that she made a lot of mentions to the wiccan world, giving an idea of how one should think about the resources of nature and how to grow your own things to become independent. Sandra found the whole subject very interesting, in the same time as she tried to figure out who the people Alicia had been writing about could be.

Sandra still had her nose deep into the column as she heard someone clear their throat, and she jerked her head up to meet the face of a man. She quickly put the magazine away and got to her feet, holding out a hand. He was dressed in suit pants and a shirt with a tie and vest over it, around 50 in age and with graying and thinning hair, his whole posture letting her know that he was in charge here. Behind him was a young girl, her hair in a very tight bun in her neck, rosy cheeks and light makeup. She was dressed in a blue three-piece suit, low heels and held a clipboard in front of her, which she kept looking at instead of looking up at Sandra.

"Sorry, it was an interesting column. Nice to meet you, Mr. Howard I presume?" Sandra smiled as he shook her outstretched hand.

"That would be correct. And you are Miss Davies?"

"The one and only." Sandra smiled, feeling weird about someone using another name for her, but using all the tricks she knew not to show it.

"Why don't we step into my office?"

Sandra nodded, following the man as he turned around and walked her through the building. The young girl followed them without a word but stayed outside the room as Martin Howard held the door up for Sandra. Sandra walked straight in and sat herself down at the chair in front of his wide desk, full of papers and folders.

"So, you want to be a writer?"

"Well, I've always been a writer." Sandra smiled. "But I would like to be a _professional_ writer."

"Well put." Howard smiled. "I have read some of your work already before I agreed to meet you and I do like what I see. We have a spot to fill as one of our journalists seems to have left us quite sudden about a month back."

"Seems to?" Sandra asked.

"Well, she just stopped showing up. I don't really know what the matter was, she seemed to be enjoying her time her but then she stopped coming. I never heard from her again, still haven't. I've been a bit iffy about finding someone to replace her, but I'm realizing that it's about time to do so. I haven't put an ad out yet, so it almost felt like it was meant to be when your work arrived at my desk."

Sandra smiled, but realized she had a perfect opportunity to ask a few questions without it being too suspect. "Did you try to contact her or her family?"

"No, some of my employers told me that she wanted to leave and that she didn't want us to contact her. My assistant told me that she had talked to her a while back and that she seemed to be doing okay, but that was at least one, maybe two months ago. Is there a reason for your asking?"

Sandra immediately chuckled, keeping her face straight, holding her hands up in an apology. "No, sorry, you know us writers. Just a small scent of what could be a good story and we push our noses all the way into it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to question you."

"That's alright. I do want you to know what has been going on of course as you will be starting here. It wouldn't be fair to keep you in the dark, there are some rumors going on at the papers, but that's all they are, rumors."

Sandra sat straight, wondering if she had actually heard him correctly. Could it be that easy? "Does that mean you will take me on?"

Howard smiled gently, nodding to her. "On a trial basis of course."

"Of course. Thank you so much Mr. Howard." Sandra said, getting to her feet slightly, leaning over his desk to shake his hand. It had really been that easy.

"Martin, please."

"Martin."

Leaning over his desk, he pressed a button to get the attention of his secretary.

"Miss Hart, would you send Miss Willow in here please?"

"Of course, Mr. Howard."

He ended the call and looked up to Sandra. "Eva Willow is our Editor in Chief. Everything you finish you give to her and she sorts out the layout of the magazine. Any questions you have, you go to her, and she will get you started and sorted with anything you need."

"That sounds good."

"She has read your work as well; I hope that was alright."

"Oh, of course. I do like it when others read my things, otherwise asking to be published would be a bad idea."

"That's true." Martin chuckled. "I did enjoy the columns you wrote as well. You're a good journalist, but maybe an even better columnist. The woman that left us also left that position open. You don't have to make up your mind now but I'm just warning you that Eva might offer you that position. When it comes to things like that, she really is the one who makes the decisions."

"Good to know. I do enjoy writing columns." Sandra smiled. She had read all the work that had been sent here and she had copies of it for when, or at least if, she needed to write and hand in her own stuff. Sandra liked writing, it had always been a passion, but she was a little bit scared that her work wouldn't match the ones that had been sent in. Sandra didn't even know who had written the work that had been sent here but she made a mental note to ask Kelly and Kamili about it.

There was a knock on the door, before it opened straight away. A tall woman, dressed in a beautiful suit moved into the room, smiling gently.

"This must be Miss Dawson."

"Rose, please." Sandra smiled, holding out her hand, which Eva immediately accepted, shaking it.

"Welcome to the Prospect and our little world. Let me show you around and get you started."

"Thank you." Sandra nodded, following Eva towards the door, stopping in it to turn back towards Martin. "Thank you, Martin."

"Thank you. I hope you will like it here."

"I'm sure I will."

Sandra followed Eva out and walked with her through the building, Eva pointed out the different rooms and areas and Sandra tried her hardest to memorize it all but figuring she would probably end up lost anyway as soon as she was let loose. Showing her the archives though, Sandra backtracked in her head so she could find her way back there later on to see if she could get a hold of Alicia's old works.

Eva finished off the tour by showing Sandra where her desk would be, where things of use was neatly placed.

"Feel free to use everything here, and other things you can find in the building. The archives are a great source for information, and if you have any questions about anything, everyone here is very nice, and my room is just over there. If the door is open, you're always welcome inside. You work your own schedule as long as I get what I need, but please keep me in the loop about what you're doing if you don't spend your days in the office. The magazine comes out once a month, meaning we have one deadline every month, next one being the 16th. Anything you wish to be in the paper is handed to me, and I will pick and choose from your work. As long as the work is up to my expectations, everyone will get something published each magazine. Feel free to write something for the columns, we do need someone to cover that part and if you like it and I like what you write we could discuss it further. Please hand things in regularly, and I will give you feedback and time to redo it. I'll feedback it with colors, a green means it's good to go, yellow is for further adjustments and red means drop it completely."

Sandra nodded eagerly, having been taking notes while Eva talked. Now Eva took a pause, before giving her a wide smile.

"Any questions?"

Sandra took a deep breath, thought about it for a moment before giving Eva a wide smile.

"No, not at the moment. They will probably come up further along."

"I expect them to. Well, then I will bid goodbye for today and I will see you in the morning. Feel free to stay around for today if you want to, but I understand if you want to go home and recharge for a full day tomorrow."

Sandra smiled happily. "I think I will do just that.

Sandra, not wanting to go straight to the office from the Prospect as she didn't want anyone to blow her cover, headed for the apartment complex that was listed as her address on her new, fake, driver's license. She walked into the building, up to the reception, and as she mentioned her name, showing off her ID, to Manny's brother in the door, he even gave her a key to an apartment that she could use for the time being. Perfect. She went upstairs, had a change of clothes and then paged Kamili just for the fun of it.

It didn't take many minutes before her phone called.

"Hi Kam, I can tell your pager works."

"_Oh, hi Sandra. How was your afternoon?"_

"All good, I got a new job."

"_Great! Does that mean we finally get rid of you then?"_

"Oh no, sorry, you are stuck with me forever."

"_Typical. But hey, in all seriousness, well done." _

"Thanks. Whereabout are you hiding?"

"_The ceremonial area where they found Alicia's body. Do you want to come down and have a peak around with us? We just got here." _

"Do you think that's a good idea? What if someone sees me?"

"_Oh, that's right, you stay low, we'll search it ourselves. I'll call you later when we checked it through. Where are you by the way? This is not your home number?"_

"No, this is Rose Dawson's home phone number."

"_Wait, did you actually get a room there?"_

"Yeah, Manny's brother sorted me out with my own little place, just a one-room apartment but it's brilliant. I'll grab a cab home from here, if someone followed me from work, they will see my car outside."

"_Well, that's great, if the brother is anything like Manny, he will have thought about everything." _

"Appears so. Well, call me later and let me know if you find something. I'm going to head home."

"_Sure. Talk to you later. Stay safe."_

"You too."

Sandra hung up the phone and walked up to the window. Looking outside, she looked around at all the cars standing along the side of the road, not seeing anyone with a person sitting inside of it she decided it would be safe to go out. She chuckled to her own paranoia, but she did not want to get killed on the first case back.

* * *

At another location, just outside Washington D.C central areas, Kelly, Kamili and Madison were walking around in the glade where Alicia's body had been found. They had just gotten here as they had spent a large part of the day in the darkroom, where Kamili had showed Madison how to develop pictures. Now they had parked their cars by a small, calm lake, walking up towards the large glade covered in grass, almost yellow now due to the hot and dry month they had been having. It was really a beautiful place, serene even, but it had an almost haunted feeling as they knew what had happened here. As Kamili had gone by the police station to find the report on Alicia's finding, the police officer had called the place "_the witches' playground_", which Kamili found rather disturbing as one of the witches had been murdered there. But she could still understand what he meant as the whole place oozed of an eerie feeling.

Kamili walked up to the massive stone, in which there was a massive hole in the middle, and a thick metal pole sticking up through the stone platform. Kamili could feel the chills run down her spine as she thought about Alicia, and all the women before her, who had suffered immensely here during their last minutes in life, right here in front of her.

In the other end of the glade, Kelly were walking amongst all the stones, all standing up in a circle. They were not many, only 10 stones, but they were large enough to leave a lasting impression on one's mind. Madison had sat down by the lake, both Kelly and Kamili could easily tell that she was not feeling too well, allowing her to rest in the shade for a bit.

Walking around in their own minds for almost 45 minutes, they all gathered up over by the lake where Madison sat.

"Anything?" Madison asked, both Kelly and Kamili shaking their heads.

"Nothing." Kamili sighed, opening the police report that she had carried along with her. "I can't find a trace that anyone has ever been here. According to this, the only thing they could find was the remains of a severely burnt body on top of this table. They couldn't find anything else, not a single object to collect. No fingerprints, no blood, no nothing. If there was anything that the police missed, it's most likely been washed away by the weather by now."

"Well, that doesn't bring us any closer to find out what happened." Kelly sighed. "I say we call it a day. I'll call Charlie from the car, and we will all meet up tomorrow. Can I give you a ride home?"

"Thanks." Madison nodded, smiling to Kelly.

"Sounds good. I'm going to call Sandra and let her know that this was a dead end."

"Good."

The trio walked down the path past the lake towards their cars and just a few minutes later the quietness of the area was deafened by the sound of the two mustangs roaring to life.


	7. Chapter 6 - Storage

**Chapter 6 **

_T__hursday, August 8th, 1985._

* * *

"Good morning Angels."

"Good morning Charlie."

"How is our case progressing?"

"Slowly." Kamili said, leaning back into the couch with her combat boots up on the table, a cup of coffee in her hands. "We'll sit down today and go through the pictures Sandra took during the meeting, see if we can sort through some names and run the computers."

"There's another meeting tonight that I'd like to go to." Sandra said, sitting in the armchair by the desk, shoes on the floor below her and her feet up beneath her.

"Excuse me?" Kamili immediately objected, turning to her friend with a surprised look.

"Do you think that is such a good idea Sandra?" Kelly added; a little bit more careful that Kamili.

"I think those meetings are an important source of information and I am certain that the answers we are seeking are there somewhere. We just have to find it."

"But considering what happened last time…"

"I know. But I will be ridiculously careful. I won't stay late, won't accept drinks and keep an ear to the ground."

"I don't like it." Kamili said straight away.

"Kamili, we can't hide in the office all the time."

Kamili didn't answer, the look she gave Sandra was enough. But she knew Sandra was right, they couldn't hide in the office all the time just because they were scared that something would happen. If they couldn't get out in the field, they would not be able to do their job and they could just give up now and get it over with. Kamili was absolutely not ready to give this up, so she just had to swallow the fear of her friends getting hurt and let them work.

"I don't know if I-"

"Absolutely not." Both Kelly and Kamili said, interrupting Madison halfway through the sentence.

"You are not going." Sandra agreed. "I'll go and make a short visit by myself. That way I can also see if someone shows a little too much interest in you."

"Yeah, that's good." Kamili said.

"Okay, then let's get going with those pictures so I can head off to the Prospect. I don't want to come in too late on my first day."

"I'll go and get the pictures." Madison smiled.

"Keep me updated Angels."

"We will Charlie. Talk to you later."

Kelly clicked off the phone before moving over, along with barefoot-Sandra, towards the couches as Madison returned, laying all the pictures out on the table. Having made copies of all the pictures, Madison quickly sorted them out into three piles. Kamili dug in her purse, pulling up three pens, giving one to Madison and one to Sandra, while Madison handed out the three piles of photos.

"I put the photos with people I knew the names of in the top of the pile, but Sandra might know some that I don't." Madison smiled. "The first one is Misha Evans, that's Alicia's roommate."

Kamili flipped the picture and used the backside of it to write down the information, Sandra and Madison following her lead, before they all turned to the next picture.

"That's Annabelle." Madison smiled.

"Was she the one who brought the lemonade?" Sandra asked, looking over to her.

"Yeah, but everyone drank from the same pitcher." Madison said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Do we know anything about her?" Kamili asked. "A last name perhaps?"

"Sorry, no. She's a Scorpio, if that helps."

"Not really. But a birth date might help though." Kamili chuckled, smiling to Madison.

"November 14th." Madison smiled, all three of them writing it down on the backside of the photo.

"Oh well, a first name and a day of birth is something to start with at least." Kelly smiled. "We've started with a lot less than that before. Do you know anything else about her?"

"Well, she kept mentioning a farm, but I couldn't figure out where the location of it were. Rather close to the ceremonial grounds, I think."

"I'll see if I can find her tonight and get more information out of her." Sandra said, while writing on the backside of the picture.

"Next picture is Joanna. She was sitting with me at the table all evening. She also mentioned 'Alicia's killer' without me ever telling them that Alicia was even dead, it made me a bit uneasy. She's a Libra, she told me her birthday was October 10th 1952."

Kamili and Sandra nodded and took notes, allowing Madison to speak freely as she wrote whatever came to her mind before she flipped to the next picture.

"That's Josie."

"Typical Sagittarius." Sandra giggled, nudging Madison's arm a little bit with her elbow as Madison blushed.

"Well she was. She was also at my table most of the evening, it was us four."

"So, one of those three people would've had the opportunity to slip you something." Kamili said as Madison nodded.

"Yeah, I guess. No one else was close enough as long as we were eating and drinking. I talked to other people as well, but I sat with these three most of the time."

"Okay. Do we have more names in the pile?"

Sandra was able to give Kamili several names as well with all the people she had been sitting with and others who had introduced themselves or been pointed out during the evening. The managed to get the names of almost everyone, and Sandra made had a close look of those who they didn't have the name of, planning to get their names during the upcoming event. Feeling that she had contributed as far as she could, she took her stuff and headed out towards the Prospect, taking a cab from the office to the apartment building where she would get a change of clothes and then pick up her new car.

Left in the office, Kamili, Madison and Kelly sat discussing the three who were suddenly suspects, wondering if they could find out anything more about them, but realizing they didn't have enough to go on just yet.

"We're going to need help if we are to find out who they are. I can run computer checks but I can't do that without full names." Kamili said, sighing, looking up to Kelly for guidance.

"We can always drop a set of the pictures past Kris. The FBI might be able to compare them to their database, it might at least be worth a shot." Kelly said.

"I have an old friend at the CIA, maybe he can help us out as well. It's absolutely worth to ask, the more we can find out about them the better. I think we should let Sandra attend the meeting tonight, meet up with her in the morning, see if we can get everyone's names and more info and then we'll drop all the pictures off tomorrow."

"That sounds like a good idea." Kelly agreed. "But what do we do today?"

"Something occurred to me last night." Madison said, suddenly remembering. "Alicia was a journalist. She must've been taking notes, right?"

Kamili's head shot up from the pictures she had been looking at.

"There should be a notebook or something among her things." Madison said, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe it's a long shot but…"

"Our client told me that she had gathered all of Alicia's things in a storage unit in the meantime, not sure what to do with it. I will give her a call and see if she can drop by to open it for us or meet us with the key." Kelly said, instantly walking over to the phone.

"Good thinking Madison." Kamili smiled, reaching over the table to nudge her arm.

It didn't take long for Kelly to be get a hold of their client, and soon thereafter they were all in Kelly's car, driving downtown to meet up with Miss Andrea Jonas. The angels arrived there first, parking their car and getting out of it, all of them leaning against it, sunglasses on their noses as the early August sun was strong this year, a good 80°F at least in the shade. Madison had even removed her biker's jacket and left it in the backseat of Kelly's car as she got out, now allowing her thin body to soak up some of that vitamin D from the golden rays.

They didn't have to wait for long as Miss Jonas car soon drove into the parking lot, and she stepped out to meet them. All three then followed her as she walked her way around the huge storage area, all three women silently trying to remember how to get out of the area if left alone in there. It seemed to go on forever, and Kamili had no idea how Miss Jonas actually knew where they were, but she stopped all of a sudden, and unlocked one of the units.

"There you go. All of this belonged to Alicia. Feel free to rummage about and if you need to take something that's absolutely okay, but I do ask you to let me know later what is missing, just so I have an overall idea of what's in here. You can keep the key for as long as you need it." Miss Jonas said, holding out the key for Kelly.

"Thank you so much." Kelly smiled gently. She could tell it was hard for their client to give them access to all of her sister's belongings, allowing them to rummage through them as if they were garbage. "We will show respect for the objects in here and we are only on the lookout for things that could guide us along. It's really appreciated that you allow us in amongst her things."

Andrea Jonas nodded, smiling gratefully to Kelly, before she walked off. It was still painful to see all of the things just crammed into the unit.

As she walked away, the three remaining women dug into it. Kelly and Madison carried out some of the bigger things such as a couch and a table to make it easier for them to move around inside the storage unit.

All three of them took a moment to look around before starting, planning what to do so they wouldn't waste any time. Most part of the unit was filled with unmarked cardboard boxes, and the three colleagues took a deep breath before starting at different ends, opening a box, looking through its content, moving it outside if it seemed to contain uninteresting things to clear a path into the unit.

With the sun shining straight into the unit, they were all soon warm, and about an hour into it they were all soaked, sweat dripping along their spines as they kept lifting and moving boxes, most of them heavy, containing books and objects. There were books about all sorts of things, Alicia did not seem to have just one favorite genre as her private library seemed to contain a little bit of everything. Kamili found the box with books about witchcraft, pagan rituals, wicca, the occult and whatever you want to name it. The box was filled to the brink with books, heavy like timber, and having finally moved it down to the floor from the pile where it had been standing, Kamili sat down on her butt to look through the books, wanting to see if Alicia had perhaps put her own things amongst the books of the same subject.

But no. Kamili emptied the whole box, and let out a deep sigh, sad that there were only books and no notebooks, before she began packing it all back in. She had really had a feeling that there would be something here, but her gut feeling had seemed to be wrong as she couldn't find anything. Putting everything back inside, she lifted up the box to carry it out of the unit to get it out of the way.

She was suddenly and painfully reminded of her chest, her body not liking the heavy load along with the hot climate down her neck, and as her chest clenched tightly she stumbled and dropped the box to the ground, a lot harder than she had intended, and several of the books spilled out as the side of the cardboard cracked open. Kamili, not being able to keep her balance as the massive box pulled her down, toppled forwards, but felt herself being grabbed from behind before falling completely, a protective arm around her stomach.

"Easy, let go of the box."

Kelly pulled Kamili backwards, down onto the couch that she and Madison had carried out from the unit, sitting both herself and Kamili down into it, Kamili leaning forward to put her head between her knees, Kelly's gentle hand on her sweaty neck. Madison twirled around, knowing she had seen a large umbrella somewhere she instantly dug it up, opening it and effectively placing it among the boxes so Kamili and Kelly was suddenly sitting in the shade.

"How are you doing?" Kelly asked, observing Kamili who was only focusing at breathing through the pain and the lightheadedness. Kamili heard Kelly's voice somewhere in the distance, and she nodded, more out of reflex than anything else while her hand moved up to her chest, rubbing it gently with her thumb.

"I'll get some water." Madison said hurrying off amongst the long open stretches of storage units. It took her a good 5, maybe almost 10 minutes to come back to them, carrying several bottles of water, and by the time she came back, Kamili's heart had calmed down enough for her to sit up, her back against the backrest, her eyes open, breathing normally, but happily accepting the water.

Drinking several mouthfuls, she exhaled and put the hand that had been rubbing the chest down to the couch, wincing a little bit as her knuckle hit a hard edge. Then she sat still, just breathing, for almost a long, whole minute before she realized what had just happened. Looking down towards the couch, she knocked again on it. Both Madison and Kelly looked over at her when she did and seeing what had happened, they both moved around to her other side, feeling a hard surface below the soft cushion. Kamili moved aside a bit but remained on the couch while Kelly and Madison began examining the couch.

Trying to find a way in without using a knife, they soon moved the pillow around to find a zipper and Kelly quickly pulled it open, sticking her hand in and pulled out a whole bunch of notebooks, a wide grin on her face. This was exactly what they had been looking for – not just notebooks, but hidden notebooks. Notebooks that definitely meant something to Alicia, meant enough for her to hide them away from nosy eyes.

All three angels smiled as Kelly moved the pillow back to its original position and sat down on top of it, leaning closer to Kamili, showing her their findings. Kamili was tired, as she always were after her heart had fluttered away but she smiled happily and took one of the notebooks from Kelly, flipping through it.

Madison walked over to move the box that Kamili had dropped and grabbing a hold of it she pushed it aside, causing more books to fall out of it as one of the sides were broken. Madison went inside the unit and came out with some duct tape, putting the box together again, then moving to put all the books back in. Moving a few of them away, she suddenly saw a book that had fallen open.

"Hey!"

Kamili and Kelly both turned to Madison and she held up the book for them to see. There was a space cut out into the pages of the book, and a silver key hidden inside of it. Madison pulled the key out of the book, placing it in Kelly's outstretched hand.

"It looks like a key to a safety deposit box." Kelly said, showing it to Kamili who immediately agreed.

"Exciting." Madison smiled. "How do we know to where it goes?"

"Let me make some calls." Kamili smiled.

"She has friends." Kelly giggled, looking over to Madison, Kamili laughing to the comment. Kelly patted Kamili's knee, handing her both the key and the books. "Here, you relax a bit. Madison and I will keep going through the unit while we're here to see if we can find something else out of interest, even though I think we've already found what we came here for."

"Okay." Kamili smiled, opening the first notebook, beginning to eye through it while Kelly and Madison moved back into the storage unit.

* * *

Several hours later, Kelly, Kamili and Madison were sitting back in the office, reading through notebooks and trying to puzzle things together as the phone called. Kelly put her coffee cup down to the desk and picked it up.

"Townsend Agency."

"Hi Kelly, it's me."

"Hi you." Kelly smiled, clicking on the speakerphone.

"Good afternoon Angels."

All three women couldn't hold back their giggles as Sandra tried to distort her voice to a darker sound, imitating Charlie.

"What's up Sandra?" Kamili laughed, putting the book down as she turned towards the speaker phone.

_"_I'm leaving the Prospect, heading towards the witch meeting now, just wanted to check in before. I won't be long here."

"Okay. Just stay safe and don't trust anyone." Kamili said, not liking the idea of Sandra going off by herself at all.

"Don't worry so much. I'll be careful, I promise. I will check in with you later on."

"Okay." Kamili sighed. "How was your day at the Prospect?"

"Boring. I've most been shown around, introduced to people and then I've been sitting down to get some writing done. They want me to get some columns written as they need someone to fill that spot. I do kind of enjoy it."

"Don't get too attached, we want you back here when the case is finished." Kelly said, Kamili agreeing loudly.

"Don't worry, I won't trade. I invested too much time in you guys." Sandra giggled through the phone. "Anyway, I'll call you when I'm heading home."

"Good." Kamili smiled as Kelly reached over and turned off the phone.

Sandra hung up her car phone and drove out towards the same barn where she had been just the other day along with Madison. Parking her car, she looked at herself for a moment in the rear-view mirror, making sure her makeup looked alright, before moving out of the car, walking up towards the barn. Just like the last time, the whole place was lit up by candles and strands of mini-lights, bathing in a serene light. Sandra took a deep breath before walking inside.

Her goal for the evening was to see if she could find someone who seemed too curious about Madison's health, too nosy about her condition. But it appeared to be a harder call than she thought, because walking inside she was instantly met by several people, all of them curious of Madison's condition, all of them had seen Sandra drag her out last time.

"She's alright." Sandra smiled. "Just needed a good night sleep. She's busy with other stuff tonight so I came by myself."

There was a murmur in the group, all of them pleased and happy that Madison was alright, Misha coming up to her side and following her to the food and drinks, Sandra grabbing a plate to herself, filling it up with some of the food. As a vegetarian she was very pleased with the supply of food, all these people loved living off the land and living off nature, and there were so many vegetarian options on the table.

"Here."

Sandra turned as she saw a glass of lemonade held out to her by one of the girls, the one whom Madison had pointed out to be Annabelle. Not wanting to accept drinks from anyone else, she put on her best poker face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I was going to grab some wine. Thank you anyway." Sandra said, smiling apologetically, instantly grabbing a glass and pouring herself a glass of white wine before the girl had time to do it for her.

"Oh well." The girl smiled, putting the glass down to the table.

Sandra smiled gently, tilting her head. "What's your name?"

"Annabelle." The girl said, lighting up, holding out her hand. Sandra put her glass down and shook it.

"I'm Sandra but I guess you knew that. Everyone seems to know my name; I hardly know anyone's." She said with a chuckle.

"Well that's what it's like. Everyone here are already a tight little group so when there's a new face everyone is instantly curious."

"I've realized."

"What about your friend? She didn't come today?"

"No, she had other matters to attend to." Sandra said, while she began to nibble at the food from her plate.

"You like it?"

Sandra nodded. "The food served here is really nice."

"Thank you. I have made most of the salads. I have a little farm just outside town. Do you know where the ceremonial grounds are?"

"I heard someone mention it, but I haven't been there."

"Well, I live just a stone throw away from it."

"It's a beautiful location." Misha chipped in, having been close by during the conversation. "Whenever there's a gathering we normally meet up at Annabelle's place beforehand and then head over to the ceremonial area together."

"I hope I get to come next time there's a celebration of sorts."

"Of course." Misha smiled, as the three of them began walking over to the couch to sit down and discuss all things Wicca.


	8. Chapter 7 - Outside help

**Chapter 7**

_Friday, August 9th, 1985._

* * *

__"Good morning." Kamili smiled, looking up to her friend. "I didn't know you wore glasses."

"I felt that Rosie would be the kind of person to wear glasses." Sandra said, shrugging her shoulders as she walked into the office. She was wearing a light blue pleated skirt with a white blouse accompanying it, glasses on her nose and her hair into a high pony. Kamili, in her normal attire of jeans, boots and a t-shirt, handed her a cup of coffee before both of them sat down into the couch. Madison was in the couch opposite them, wearing a full-length flowery dress. Kelly had called in, telling them she would be in later and they should get started without her.

"I prefer my contacts, and it's a lot easier when out on the field, glasses always tend to get in your way when fighting." Sandra smiled, looking up at Kamili while sipping her coffee.

"You look good in glasses though." Kamili said, her smile gentle for a second before turning into an evil grin. "You look just as old as the old lady that you really are."

"One day I'm gonna shot you." Sandra threatened with a laugh, making Kamili laugh out loud.

"It will be worth it." Kamili grinned, as the phone called. Walking over to the desk she pressed the speaker, knowing already who it would be at this time of the day.

"Good morning Angels."

"Good morning Charlie." All angels chorused as Kamili sat back down.

"How was last night Sandra?" Charlie asked.

"Uneventful." Sandra smiled. She had called Kelly last night, so she already knew, but Madison, Kamili and Charlie needed the update as well. "Nothing much happened really. A lot of people were asking about Madison of course, but no one was being extra nosy or curious, at least not from what I could tell."

"Anyone offered you anything?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, Annabelle offered me some lemonade just as I came, maybe she didn't have any bad intentions with it at all, but I didn't accept it. She told me as well about the farm, long before I had time to ask. Apparently, she makes a lot of the food that are being served at the meeting. She said as well that the farm is just a stone throw away from the ceremonial ground, like you thought Mads."

Kamili nodded while spreading out the last pictures on the table. "Were anyone of these there last night?"

"Oh, yeah." Sandra said, filling Kamili and Madison in on their names and as much as she knew about them, which wasn't all that much. Sandra also handed Kamili a roll of film from last night, Kamili handing it to Madison.

"Do you think you can sort it out by yourself?"

"I think so." Madison smiled. "It was easier than I thought it would be."

"Then give it a try. Page me if you need help and I'll guide you through the phone. I'll drive down to Kris and give her one set of the photos, and I'll head down to the CIA and hand them one set as well." Kamili said, gathering two of the piles into file jackets to bring them with her.

Sandra then looked at her watch, smiling. "Well, Rosie is going to the paper. Today is the day I'll go down into the archives and see if I can get some of Alicia's earlier work with me home and we can help out reading it to see if we can find any clues in her work. How did it go with the notebooks you told me about by the way?"

"Oh, we were all reading them yesterday, but it's mostly notes that doesn't really make any sense. I will head down to the bank as well with that key and see if it leads anywhere and see what might be hidden in that deposit."

"Sounds good." Sandra said, finishing her coffee.

"Seems like you're on the right track Angels. Let me know if you need help with anything." Charlie said through the phone, pleased to hear that they seemed to be at full speed onwards with the case.

"Thanks Charlie. We'll keep you updated." Kamili smiled, which was followed with the familiar click as the phone line was cut off.

"Okay, Rosie is off." Sandra smiled, getting to her feet.

"Goodbye Rosie." Both Madison and Kamili smiled as Sandra left the office, heading for the Prospect.

Kamili and Madison sat talking for a few more minutes, finishing their coffee before Kamili gathered the two folders with pictures and headed down to her car, while Madison moved towards the darkroom to get the new pictures sorted out.

Kamili drove over to the FBI Headquarters, and after checking in at the desk she walked through the corridors and elevators that she had become familiar with during the last years. Had someone told her a few years ago that she would be walking the corridors of the FBI headquarters, she would've never believed them.

Turning a corner now, she found the door with a brass sign engraved with "Munroe". Seeing the name stung quite bad as she felt so sorry for Kris still. As Kris had married Tommy, she had changed her name to Smith, but coming home from Barnwell Prison she had done everything in her power to become that happy girl again instead of the grieving widow. She didn't want to forget Tommy, and she never would, but using his name every day, hearing people say it every day, proved to be too much. And as they were technically not married anymore - _from this day forward until death do you part_ \- she had changed back to her maiden name, making the days just a little more bearable.

Kamili couldn't even fantasize how she would deal with her life if she lost Morgan. He had been her rock almost her entire life, growing up close to each other she had known him since she was a little girl and they had been best of friends long before becoming an item. They had never decided to be a couple by words, they had just grown into one. They had both helped each other through heartache and tragedies, and she still had custody to her daughter thanks to his selfless and loving nature. She had him to thank for everything and just the idea of losing him made her heart ache.

Deciding to push those thoughts aside, she knocked the closed door instead, instantly hearing confirmation from the inside she opened the door and peaked her head in. Kris was behind her desk, dressed in her suit dress, ID card hanging around her neck, leaned back in the chair, talking on the phone. She smiled at Kamili and gestured for her to come inside, Kamili sitting down and placed one of the file jackets down on Kris' table. Curious, Kris opened it up and peaked inside while finishing up the phone call.

"Hey Kam." Kris smiled, pulling out the photos from the folder. "How are you doing?"

"I'm all well, the case could use your help though."

"With what?" Kris asked, looking up at Kamili for a second before moving her eyes back to the pictures.

"Information. These people were all at a gathering that Madison and Sandra went to, when Madison might've been drugged. Sandra spent the whole evening taking pictures. We have written what we know on the backside of each picture, but we need full names and as much information as possible on the people, and I thought that maybe you could help us with that?"

"Of course. I'll run this down and we'll find out as much as we can about them, then I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"Great, thanks. I am heading off to a friend at CIA to ask him to do the same, then we should have enough collective information to puzzle things together from it."

"Sounds good. I'll get back to you the minute I find anything out." Kris smiled. "How is Madison?"

"Oh, she's alright. She was feeling a bit crappy, but it passed overnight."

"Glad it wasn't worse." Kris said, Kamili agreeing before getting to her feet, not wanting to take up all of Kris' time.

"Thank you so much for helping out." Kamili smiled, walking to the door to let herself out. Opening the door, she stopped for a moment, taking a breath before she turned back to Kris.

"Hey."

Kris twirled her head up, the blonde hair curving against her neck, looking at Kamili, questioning look on her face. Kamili smiled.

"I'm happy to have you back."

Kris' questioning face broke out into a beautiful smile, as Kamili gave a nod before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

Leaving the FBI headquarters, she got into her mustang and drove along the Potomac until she reached the massive building that was the home of the CIA. Not being able to go inside there just as easily as she could within the FBI, she registered with all the necessary paperwork in the entrance and then sat down to wait for her friend to come and get her.

She didn't have to wait for long. A man in his late 40s soon joined her, sharing a friendly hug before he gestured for her to follow him. His name was Hank Donner, and she had only met him a few times since the two of the came home from Vietnam. He had been one of the guys that Kamili had actually felt safe around, a good, strong guy who had never really left the war. Now he ran his own team at the Central Intelligence Agency. The two of them began catching up as he walked her towards his office.

"I haven't heard from you in ages Kamili. How you been?"

"Oh, life has just gone by in a blur. I'm doing good."

"I did hear you joined the Townsend Agency. I must admit I was a bit surprised to hear that, I never did see you as a team player."

"Says the man I fought alongside with for almost two years." Kamili smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"We fought behind you, not with you and you know it. We just followed you along as you made the calls, told us what to do and you were for sure happiest when you got to run solo on the rooftops, hiding in the shadows."

"Okay, fine, that is true, I always worked alone before. But I don't really know what it was that convinced me to join them. Call it intuition if you'd like, but even the first time I met them there was something telling me that it was the right thing to do." Kamili said, then let out a small laugh as she reminisced about meeting the angels for the first time. "Well, maybe not the first time I met them. I did put a gun to one of the girls' head and had the other on her knees. Good times."

Hank laughed, shaking his head. "But I guess you're happy about the situation now?"

"I am. They are good girls and we have grown very close to each other. I wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world, we're a proper family."

"Well, that's the whole thing about the Townsend Agency, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, we usually refer to your agency when we speak about what teamwork should be like. The Townsend Agency is known for being just a big family, where everyone always holds each other's back. You ladies know each other so well and it seems that you can often plan ahead when something is going on as you already know what the others are planning. It's easier to solve cases when you know, and trust, your coworkers, like you ladies do."

Kamili couldn't help but to smile, as they reached an office door with the name "Donner" on it. He unlocked the door and let Kamili inside.

"Well, we're a good team. We do need outside help sometimes though. Like now."

"Yeah, you were not very detailed on the phone, why don't you sit and let me know what's going on. Coffee?"

"I'm good, a glass of water perhaps?"

Handing Kamili a glass of sparkling water, he sat down by his desk, Kamili sitting down in a chair, explaining their case while handing him the folder with pictures. It took her a moment to explain what had happened to Alicia, the witch meetings, the Prospect and all she knew about the case. She wished she had more information though, but she was certain they would dig it up soon.

"We haven't really made much of a progress so far, and considering the last big cases we've had, we are all a bit anxious to solve this case without someone getting seriously injured."

"We all heard about Zeke Mount." Hank said, lowering his head to look into his cup of coffee. The case about a highly ranked boss at the FBI killing his own people had made the newspapers, and it had changed the game. Necessary arrangements had been made afterwards with interviews and screenings and new rules had arrived at the FBI, but even here at the CIA the warning bells had been chiming loudly.

"Yeah." Kamili said, rolling her eyes. He had certainly been a life-changer. "Anyway. Do you think you can help us? It would perhaps be a job below the table."

"Anything for Diallo, you know that. I still owe you for all the times you saved my life."

"I just did my job Hank."

"You did a lot more than that. You made sure I came home to my son."

"No, I made sure that I came home to my daughter. I just pulled you guys along for the ride."

Hank laughed, looking at the pictures. "I'll put some of my guys on it. You want as much as we can get, I presume?"

"Yes please, the more the better. We have written what we know on the backsides of them but it's not much unfortunately. And I did tell you I have an FBI agent on it as well? I know your two agencies don't really love each other."

"You did tell me that, but I'm okay with it as long as that agent keeps it below the table as well."

"She will."

"Good. I'll run the pictures and I will contact you as soon as we have something."

"Perfect, thank you so much Hank."

"Don't worry about it."

In the same time in another location in town, Sandra looked right and left before heading downstairs. Not that she wasn't allowed into the archives but figuring it might raise suspicions, she remained careful. Not seeing anyone, she walked down the stairs, taking a right and entered the massive archives of the Prospect. Turning the lights on she walked inside, moving around to find what she was looking for. Realizing how big this place was, she knew it would take her more than a moment to find it.

She figured she should narrow down her search and start by focusing on the columns. Call it female intuition if you will, but her gut was telling her that it was there the answers would be found. And that would also make it a whole lot easier, as she could just grab the last years magazines and say that she wanted to be kept up to date. It would be a lot more suspicious if she were to pick out certain magazines that contained Alicia's work.

Walking around in the archives, they had made it easy for her to find the right stuff as all the past magazines were all neatly organized at one of the shorter walls at the beginning of the room, and with several copies of each number, she could easily pick a handful, grabbing as many as she could carry, but deciding against it she only took the magazines from the last 12 months. If they had too, she would come back down here and grab some more, but this would be enough for now.

Heading back up to her desk, she sat down, leaned back in her chair and begun reading through the magazines, trying to not make it look too obvious that she was looking for something. As she figured, it didn't take long before she felt someone coming up behind her shoulder.

"Hey, what did you find?"

Sandra let her chair twirl around and smiled widely as she met the Editor-in-Chief.

"Hi Eva. I went down into the archive to find some of the old magazines. I have of course followed the magazine for a bit, but I felt I should read up a little to get the feel of the magazine right."

Eva smiled, nodding a bit. "That's not a bad idea, but don't worry about putting your own touch to it."

"Oh, of course not."

"Do you want company for lunch in an hour or so? Some of the other girls and I are heading out to a place just down the road."

"Oh, I'd love to." Sandra said, happy to be invited, and seeing it as a good opportunity to meet Alicia's former colleagues.

"Great! I'll come and get you when we're heading out, but it should be in about an hour. Mindy is in a meeting at the moment, but she thought she'd be done by eleven-ish."

"That sounds great. I'll be reading, so I'll be here."

"Great." Eva smiled, giving Sandra a nod before taking off just as quickly as she had arrived.

Kamili had moved on from the CIA and figuring she could just keep going around to meet friends, she headed over to the National Capital Bank on Pennsylvania Avenue, almost instantly bumping into Devin Dupont as she got out of her car on the parking lot. Devin was one of Aurore and Peggy's big brothers, and he was also Janet's partner, father of the boy Benjamin.

"Kamili, how are you?" Devin smiled, looking stylish in a pinstriped suit and a briefcase in his hand.

"I'm all good Dev, what about yourself?"

"Absolutely well. What brings you here?"

"I was planning to see if I could meet up with James Roberts, I have some questions regarding the case we're working on that I need some help with. It didn't occur to me that you work here as well, I knew that of course, but it completely slipped my mind. But you don't work with the safety deposits, right?"

"Oh no, afraid I can't help you there. But I can help you to Mr. Roberts' office." Devin laughed. He had followed Aurore from Georgia to the city when she moved for chef school after Kamili had been shipped out for Vietnam and he had gotten a job at the bank in the economy department. Kamili and Morgan had moved to Washington D.C after Kamili came back as well, wanting to be close to their friends.

"That would be brilliant, thank you. If you have the time of course?"

"Yes, don't worry, come along."

Kamili and Devin small talked as he guided her into the building, blipping her in through the doors and past all security, walking up and down the long corridors amongst the offices until they reached a massive office in one of the corners of the building on the top floor, with the '_executive vice president_'-sign along with Mr. Rogers' name on the door. Opening up to meet his assistant, Devin said his goodbyes to Kamili and left her in there. Kamili talked to the assistant for a moment and she called in to her boss, and it only took mere moments before the door was opened and James Roberts met her with open arms, showing her into his office.

"How are you?" He asked as the two of them walked inside, closing the door behind them.

"I am absolutely fine. How are you?"

"I'm as well as could be."

"I was very sorry to hear about your wife. My deepest condolences to you all, I hope you let me know if I can be to any help."

"Thank you Kamili, we're doing well considering. She's greatly missed. But what brings you here? You haven't dropped by in a long time now."

Kamili smiled to her old acquaintance as she held up the small silver key they had found in the book, holding it out for him. James put his glasses onto his nose before he reached over the desk and took the key in his hand, looking it over closely.

"We have a murdered woman on our hands and we're trying to find her killer. We found this key hidden amongst her personal belongings and we are trying to find the treasure chest that goes along with it. We think it looks like a key to a safety deposit, and I thought that maybe you could help me bring some clarity to it all."

"Well, I agree with you that it does look like a key to a safety deposit box, we have similar keys but not the same type. I do think it looks like the ones they use over at United Bank."

"Oh, okay. Then I'll head there."

"Let me give the President of the bank a call to let him know you'll be coming around, that might save you some time and troubles. I can call him right now and ask him about the key before, so you don't waste your time in case I am mistaken."

"Thank you, James, I really appreciate it."

James nodded to her as he picked up his phone while Kamili leaned back and looked around the room, looking out through the massive windows towards the street, looking over to the bookcases, reading the backs of the books over there. She looked over to the little couch group in the other end of the room with a little bar, a television and music system.

Kamili turned her attention back to James as he mentioned her name, but realized he was mentioning it in the phone, nodding and smiling to her as she turned around. He explained her situation, describing the key in his hand, complete with a serial number and all. His face soon lit up and he smiled happily to Kamili before finishing off the phone call, placing the phone back.

"He thinks it's one of their keys. He isn't able to meet you today but asked me to tell you to come by on Monday after lunch and he'll personally help you out. In the meantime he will see if he can perhaps find to where it leads."

"Thank you so much for your help, it's truly invaluable to us, but mostly to Alicia's family. They deserve to know what happened."

"I'm just happy I could help. Go see him on Monday, his name is Patrick Miller." James said, looking into his drawer he found a business card that he handed to Kamili. "Give him a call before you head there, and he can meet you in the door."

"Brilliant." Kamili smiled, taking the card, the key and got to her feet, James rising too and the two of them shaking hands. "Thank you again, and please don't hesitate to contact us if you ever need help with anything."

"I will do just that." He smiled, following her to the door. "Can you find your way back out?"

"I should be able to. I am a detective after all."

James smiled as he patted her shoulder, before Kamili made her way back to her car.

* * *

After lunch, all angels met up at the office. Kamili had joined in after eating lunch with Tara at the hospital, wanting to check in on her sister as she had not been feeling well the other day. The lunch date had not really made her stop worrying as Tara still had been feeling a bit ill, and Kamili's head was not really focused as she made her way back to the office, parking the car and slowly walking up the stairs, taking a moment to breathe as she made it up.

"You okay?"

Kamili took a deep breath before she put a smile on her face and turned around to Sandra who had just bounced up the stairs as she had seen her friend keeling over a bit at the top of them.

"I'm fine, Rosie. Just fighting the stairs a bit."

Sandra smiled gently as she put a hand on her friend's upper back, gently giving her a pat before the two of them made their way into the office. Sitting down in the couches, Sandra emptied her bag on the table while Kamili got herself a glass of water, handing Sandra a bottle of Coke.

"Did you have lunch?"

"Yes, with the girls of the Prospect." Sandra smiled, while still digging in her bag. "They all seem sweet, all of them a bit special perhaps but I guess you have to be to work at a magazine. You know, headstrong, powerful women. There were some talking about Alicia as everyone knows that I am replacing her, but everyone seemed genuinely upset."

"I see. Are these her old work?" Kamili said, looking down at the table.

"Yeah, well it's the magazines of the last year. I figured I would grab a little at the time and not all at once. I've been reading some of it, and the articles are good but it's not much of Alicia's own thoughts and ideas in them, so I think the columns are where we should start looking."

"Sounds good."

"What have you been up to?"

"I have been by Kris, handing pictures to her, and then I headed down to a friend named Hank at the CIA, handing him some pictures as well. I've also headed past the National Capitol Bank to see if I could find the safety deposit that Alicia was using. I have a good lead on it at United Bank but they didn't have time to meet me until Monday so I will wait with that."

"Did you have lunch?"

"Yeah, I met up with Tara."

"What's the matter?"

Kamili moved her head up to meet Sandra's eyes. She shouldn't be surprised that Sandra could see right through her, knowing straight away that Kamili had her focus elsewhere.

"Tara is sick, she's running a fever and a bad cough but she's still working full time because apparently they are a bit short staffed. I'm just a bit worried about her."

"I'm sure she'll be alright. She is a doctor after all and surrounded by them. I hope that her coworkers will stop her if it goes too far." Sandra smiled, just as Kelly and Madison walked into the office, take out bags in their hands.

"Hey, good to see you two here. All good?" Kelly asked, sitting down and opening up the bags of food, beginning to eat while Kamili and Sandra filled them in on what had been going on during the morning. Sandra told them about the archives, about the columns and articles and about her lunch, giving them a list of names of the people she had met during it so they could compare the names to notes and other lists in the future as they would try to puzzle it all together.

Kamili told them about meeting Kris and meeting Hank and was just about to tell them about James at the bank when the phone called. Kelly sighed loudly as she put her food down and walked over to the desk, picking the phone up.

"Townsend Agency."

"Hi Kell, it's me."

"Hi Aurore." Kelly said, happy to hear her girlfriend's voice but immediately worried as Aurore never called at work unless it was urgent. Kelly sat quiet and listened as Aurore talked, filling her in on what had happened.

"Oh dear. How is Jill? Do you need me to come down?" Kelly said, making the Angels look up at her, worried looks on their faces, relaxing a bit as they heard Kelly continue in the phone. "Okay, thank you Aurore. I'll contact Kris. Give Jill my love will you, and please keep us updated if there's a problem. I'll see you after work. Love you too sweetie."

Kelly then ended the phone call with her index finger, holding it for a second before dialing Kris' phone number. While waiting for Kris to pick up, Kelly looked up, realizing all her Angels were looking at her, wondering what had just happened, but Kris answered in the other end before she had time to tell them.

"Hey, Kris, it's me."

"_Hey Kelly, what's going on?" _

"Aurore just called me, apparently Jill fainted at the club and fell, hitting her head and belly across some chairs. They have taken her to the hospital, but she seems to be alright, as long as the midwife's exam clears out, she can head home. Aurore has been trying to call you, but the FBI security won't let her through."

"_Oh. Are you heading down to the hospital?"_

"No, Aurore said things were calm and they would hopefully be home in a little while."

"_Okay. I will meet up with you after work. I will also check with my security guys and make sure Aurore's name is on the list. Thanks for letting me know."_

"Of course. Aurore promised to call back if something changed but she didn't seem too worried."

"_Good. Just keep me updated, will you?"_

"Absolutely. Talk to you later."

"_Yeah." _

Kelly hung up the phone heading back to the couches, picking up her food again as she looked over to her angels. "Well, you heard I presume?"

"Yeah, poor Jill." Sandra said. "I hope she feels better soon."

"Yeah, I hope so too. She's been really sick the last three months, basically since she became pregnant. We might have to tie her to the bed for the upcoming part of her pregnancy unless she begins to feel better soon."

The four of them sat for several hours talking about the case, checking the names Sandra had from lunch, discussing the notes that didn't seem to make any sense so far, and they looked over the pictures that Madison had developed during the morning. Feeling that the case was moving very, very slowly, they all decided to call it a night and take the weekend off. Kamili's head was focused on Tara just as Kelly's mind was focused on Jill.

Heading home, Kelly picked Ella and Sarah up from school, dropping them off at home, making sure Ella kept an eye on Sarah before Kelly headed across the street to Jill and Damien's house and let herself in. She walked into the living room where she found Jill sleeping in her favorite spot, curled up in the big armchair, a thick blanket wrapped around her and her head heavy into a pillow. A small cut on the side of her forehead had been taped and a bruise was forming around it.

"How is she?" Kelly asked as she walked up to Damien and Aurore, Damien sitting in the couch next to Jill, Aurore standing leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. Damien filled Kelly in on the status of his lady.

"She'll be okay. Bump on the head and sore all over. Babies are okay too."

Kelly almost choked on her own tongue. _Plural?_

"Yes." Aurore grinned upon seeing Kelly's pale face. "Another set of Munroe-twins are arriving in a few months. We'd better start preparations. Personally, I'm thinking it is time to get a new house, maybe even a farm on the countryside. I heard Australia is really nice."

Kelly gave her a wide smile and nodded, while Damien laughed short before getting up, walking closely to Kelly, staring straight at her, dead serious. "Don't leave me here, please bring me with you."

"We'll help you out Damien." Kelly laughed, both her hands going up to rub his upper arms. "It will kill us, but we will help you. I just hope you breed the twins as well as you bred Annie."

"We can only hope." Aurore smiled, as the front door opened as Kris let herself in, Jacob and Jessica come running in around her legs. Jessica disappeared within a second while Jacob ran up to Kelly. Kelly smiled widely as she caught the boy, pulling him up onto her hip. Kris had a worried expression on her face, and upon seeing the others' somber faces she put her hand to her mouth and gasped.

"No." She whispered, tears welling up. "Did she lose-"

"No, no!" Damien immediately said, a hand on her shoulder. "The babies are fine."

"Thank God." Kris said, relaxing. "And Jill?"

"She's okay too, bump on the head and sore all over, but she's okay." Damien said, repeating what he had told Kelly.

Kris relaxed for a second, taking a minute to just watch her sister sleep, before she suddenly grew stiff and twirled towards Damien.

"Babies? Plural?"

Damien nodded. "It appears to be in the Munroe-genes."

"Well as long as they are as calm as Annie, we will be alright." Kris said, biting her lower lip.

"One can only hope." Aurore repeated herself, shaking her head slightly. If their lives were a circus before, what would it be like with two more trolls?

"Dami-"

Damien hurried past Kelly and Kris as he heard Jill whisper, groaning a bit as she woke up. He was at her side in an instant, on his knees on the floor, a hand moving to her cheek.

"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?"

"Nauseas." Jill whispered, a hand moving to her head, fingers moving to the bump. Damien gently caught her hand, removing it from her face.

"Don't touch it honey." He moved the hand back down into her lap, wrapping the blanket further around her shoulders. "Can I get you anything?"

"Water."

Damien rose to his feet and was just about to head out into the kitchen, but Aurore held up a hand to him before moving out of the room. Damien smiled as he fell back to Jill's side. Kris moved over there as well, placing a hand on Jill's shoulder.

"Hi honey. We're all here it you need anything."

"Kris." Jill whispered as she opened her eyes, moving her head slightly to meet her sister's eyes. "Kris, I need an exorcist. These kids are already trying to kill me."

"Don't worry honey. You've survived babysitting my kids, and if you can survive that, you can survive anything."

"Yes, but these are actually trying to kill me before they are even born."

Aurore joined them, handing Damien a glass, and he helped Jill drink, slowly and carefully, not wanting it to come back up again. Jill was a bit taken aback first, but then swallowed all of it, looking up to Aurore.

"Ginger ale." She smiled. "They say it's good for nausea."

Jill smiled gratefully as she pressed her head into the pillow again. Kelly moved up to them as well, having put Jacob down to the floor and he disappeared into the house on the lookout for his sister.

"Jill? Maybe we should help you to the bed instead?" Kelly suggested.

"I'm good here." She whispered, but Damien agreed with Kelly, and a joined effort got Jill to the master bedroom where they tucked her down in the bed. As she seemed peaceful the trio walked out to where Aurore was still waiting, observing from a distance.

"I'm real worried about her." Damien whispered as they moved into the kitchen. "I don't think she felt alright more than 10 minutes altogether since she became pregnant. I don't know how she's going to handle another 28 weeks."

"Hopefully it will pass soon Damien. If not, we will help her out."

"Have you talked to the midwife?"

"We did that today; she gave Jill some medications against the nausea, but they don't want to give her too much obviously. She said Jill's blood pressure is a bit high as well so there's a lot of rest in her near future."

"What about natural remedies?" Aurore asked. "Ginger is just one thing, there are plenty of things to try."

"I'm certain that Jill will try whatever you have in mind."

Aurore nodded, then looked at her watch. "I really need to go down to the restaurant again. I left it all in quite the rush over there. I promised to be back before the worst of the dinner rush."

"That's alright Rory. We'll take it from here." Kris smiled.

Damien got to his feet and gave her a tight hug. "Thank you so much for taking care of her."

"Of course, Damien, it was nothing." Aurore said with a laugh. It had been the only thing to do. Now she took her things, gave Kelly a quick peck on the lips and then left the house.

Hearing a child cry, Damien was just about to head off when Kris put her hand on his arm, stopping him and then walked off by herself, returning momentarily with little Annie who had instantly stopped crying as someone kept her company. This little girl was so gentle and so sweet, so easy to handle and never coming up with bad ideas. In difference from her own kids, this little one resting towards her chest was a proper little angel. And something told Kris that the new set of twins that would be arriving, might not be as calm and quiet.


	9. Chapter 8 - The weekend

**Chapter 8 **

_Saturday, August 10__th__, 1985._

* * *

Kamili knocked the door again, wondering what was taking her sister so long. Her car was outside on the parking lot and she had seen from the street that the lights were on in the apartment. Kamili was just about to pull up her keychain to let herself in when the door was finally pulled open.

"Hey." Tara said tiredly, turning around to walk back into the apartment, making Kamili instantly take two quick steps forward, grabbing a firm hold of her sister's upper arm.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just got food on the stove."

Kamili didn't believe her for a second, but let go of her arm, turning back to close the door behind her. Heading after her into the kitchen, she got herself a cup of coffee before sitting down on one of the tall chairs by Tara's kitchen island, just observing her sister as Tara finished off an omelet, placing it on a plate and handing it over to her sister.

"Really, asparagus?"

"Natural source of folate, helps to prevent homocysteine from building up in the body, decreasing the risk of heart-related conditions. Eat up."

Kamili smiled, shaking her head slightly before she begun eating as Tara sat down on the other side of the kitchen island with just a big glass of orange juice. The detective inside Kamili had already awoken while she was outside and now she looked around, seeing an empty glass by the sink with a medicine bottle and a fever thermometer next to it. But also knowing that it was really no use pushing her sister she decided to not mention it, but to observe instead, while eating her omelet.

"When is the show?" Tara asked, leaning back on her chair.

"Three o'clock. Do you feel well enough to come?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, you know that." Tara said, smiling, before turning around as she coughed into the bend of her arm.

Kamili didn't say anything, and she didn't have to, her face telling Tara exactly what she was thinking, Tara just waved her off, carefully having a few sips of the orange juice.

"Is Yasmin excited?"

"Oh, you have no idea. She's been practicing in the living room all week."

Tara couldn't help but to chuckle at the image in her head of her little niece dancing around her parents in the living room, trying to learn the routine.

"Is she with Morgan now?"

"Yes, they are having lunch with Kelly and Sarah before they go to the dance studio."

Tara nodded, coughing again. Kamili put her head to her side, looking at her sister with an eyebrow up as Tara caught her breath again. "I'm fine Kamili, it's just a chest infection."

"I didn't say anything." Kamili said as she finished her omelet, scraping the last together onto her fork.

"Yes you did." Tara said. "It will pass in a few days."

"Whatever you say, doctor." Kamili said, smiling as she put her fork down on the plate, grabbing her cup of coffee.

"Chief, if I may." Tara said, her face cracking up into a wide smile.

"My bad." Kamili smiled. "How is work?"

"It's fine, just a bit much at the moment. Lots of sick doctors so we're trying to cover shifts best we can."

"But today you're off?"

"I even unplugged my phone. I have to have at least one day off."

"You do, especially if you're not well."

"I'm fine."

"No. Okay, maybe, but fine? No."

Tara rolled her eyes as she finished her glass with juice, getting up to her feet she took Kamili's plate and along with the glass and put it in the dishwasher.

"I need a shower and change of clothes. You okay by yourself?"

"I'll enjoy your couch." Kamili smiled, moving herself over to the big leather couch, placing herself down into it, pulling her sneakers off and putting her feet on the table while turning on the TV.

* * *

After chilling out in the apartment, just flicking through channels and taking it easy for a few hours, Kamili and Tara walked downstairs, getting into Kamili's mustang and headed towards the dance studio where Yasmin and Sarah both studied the beautiful art of ballet. Seeing several cars on the parking lot that they recognized, they headed inside and almost instantly ran into Sandra, Madison and Janet, Sandra having Benjamin in a wrap on her chest while Janet was fiddling with a camera, Madison trying to help her figure it out.

"Hey!" Sandra smiled happily, kissing Kamili's cheek as they met up, Kamili cooing with Benjamin a little bit before turning to Janet and Madison. Tara stayed back a little, not wanting to get too close to the baby with her cough.

"Thanks for being here, guys. I know it means the world to Yasmin." Kamili smiled, putting her hands into her pockets, looking around. There were a lot of people here.

"Are you kidding, how could we possibly miss this?" Janet said happily. "Our little girls are growing up."

Kamili smiled, then turned as she felt a hand on her shoulder, smiling widely as she met Aurore's face, Kris and Ella right behind her. Aurore and Kris both had a twin on their hip, holding on tightly. The twins were absolutely big enough to walk by themselves and normally they would, but there were so many people here that Kris was worried that – _no, she knew that_ – they would get lost in a heartbeat. They liked running amok.

"Hey, I'd thought you guys would be backstage?"

"No, they kicked us out." Aurore laughed.

"Are they nervous?" Janet asked.

"No, but we are!" Kris laughed. "Come on now, let's take our seats before it fills up."

Moving in, the large gang took their seats amongst the chairs placed for the audience, chairs holding almost a hundred people. Kelly and Morgan hurried down to them about 10 minutes before it started, making their way in to sit down in the chairs that Kamili and Aurore had saved for them.

"How is it going?" Kris asked, sitting on one of Kelly's sides. Kris had Jessica on her lap, the little girl bouncing on her knee, excited as she knew something was about to happen, but not really sure what it was. Jacob immediately climbed over from Aurore's lap into Kelly's and stood on her thigh, holding his arms around her neck.

"Oh, it's going to be great. They are really excited." Kelly smiled as she held the little boy behind his butt, keeping him balanced.

"Do we have to stay for the whole show?"

"I'm not even going to answer that Ella." Kelly said, voice full of annoyance, without turning to her oldest daughter, rolling her eyes to Kris who giggled quietly next to her while they heard Ella sigh very loudly.

Kamili leaned in close to her husband, whispering. "Is Yasmin scared?"

"Yeah, a little."

Being the only African American in the dance group, Yasmin had expressed her worries before that the audience wouldn't like her. It hurt Kamili knowing that her little girl was scared of what other people would think and what they might do, but she also knew that not all people were happy with the color of their skin, for some insane reason that she herself would never understand. Deciding to not get into the discussion with strangers was one thing, and if they spat after her or called her bad names didn't bother her anymore, but if something were to happen to her daughter due to her chocolate skin, she would not hesitate to bash that person's head in.

Kamili put her hand into Morgan's, their fingers intertwining, Kamili leaning her head down to his shoulder, her eyes moving over towards her sister as Tara coughed again, into a handkerchief that she had apparently brought with her.

Not long after, the lights in the roof was turned down low and the owner of the dance studio appeared on stage, introducing the kids and thanking everyone for coming. Then the kids started dancing on stage, kids in all ages and all different dance styles were represented, but the massive gang were all waiting for their ballerinas.

Upon seeing their baby girls coming out on stage with eight other girls, dancing a beautiful choreography to the sound of the piano in their pink tutus and ballerina-shoes, there were a lot of teary eyes in the audience, especially amongst the angels. Sandra elbowed Janet hard in her side as she was forgetting about the camera, Janet fumbling with the camera again but managing to snap some good pictures.

* * *

"Mama, did you see me!?"

Kamili laughed as she caught her daughter in her arms as Yasmin came flying, still wearing her little pink dress but with a woolen sweater draped over her upper body to keep warm.

"Of course I did sweetheart, we all did! You were fantastic!" Kamili said, tears in her eyes as she hugged her daughter tightly. Seeing Sarah hurry past her, she gently leaned down and patted her head as she went by. "Hey and you were fantastic too!"

Sarah smiled proudly as Kelly got down on one knee and caught Sarah with one arm, still holding Jacob on her hip as the little boy had fallen asleep during the show. "I'm so proud of you Sarah."

"It was so much fun! I can't wait for our next show."

"And we will all be there to watch one that one too." Kris smiled, her hand on Sarah's back, looking back with a stern eye as she heard Ella make annoyed sounds behind her back.

"Now we should go eat though. The next show will have to wait." Kelly laughed, getting to her feet, taking Sarah's hand. "Do you want to change your clothes first?"

"No!"

"Never mind then. Yasmin, are you keeping your tutu on for dinner as well?" Kelly smiled, turning to Yasmin who was holding onto both her parents by their hands.

"Yes!"

"Oh well. Let's go for dinner."

"Dinner?" Jessica asked, still in her mother's arms. The little girl looked around before reaching her hands out towards Aurore. "Rorie!"

Aurore laughed out loud as she reached over and picked Jessica out of Kris' arms, Kris giggling happily. Her babies were Mini-Munroes, for sure. "Are you hungry? I don't believe it! You've never been hungry before."

"Rorie, I want food! I hungry."

"What else is new?" Aurore smiled, nudging the girl a bit as they walked out of the studio. "What would you like to eat?"

Jessica frowned, thinking long and hard about her decision, having learned that if she was lucky, Aurore might just make her exactly what she wished for. They had almost gotten to the cars when Jessica made up her mind, nodding determined towards Aurore.

"Yes. Cookies."

"That's not dinner sweetheart."

"It could be."

Aurore laughed loudly while putting Jessica into the baby seat in Kris' car, buckling the little girl up, before the caravan of cars headed down towards the restaurant for a lovely dinner out.

* * *

_Sunday, August 11__th__, 1985._

"Yeah, hello?"

"Hey Jane, it's me."

"Hi Sandra. What's up?"

"Can I come by for dinner tonight?"

"You are always welcome here; you know that."

"Thanks." Sandra smiled through the phone. "I'll going to go for a run, but I'll be by later on."

"Okay, see you later."

Sandra hung up the phone, smiling before stretching carefully. Dressed in her running clothes, she had a glass of water and put her shoes on before she headed out on the street. Picking up a slow jog, she headed out into the neighborhood, and also headed into her own head. She knew she probably didn't have to call and ask for Janet's permission to come over, but she didn't want Devin to feel that she just intruded in their home whenever she wanted. A lot had changed in the last year. It was almost exactly a year ago since they went to Hawaii where so many things had been happening. Sandra mostly remembered how bad her own head had been at the time. She had barely slept, being terrified of never waking up again. She kept seeing Melissa every time she closed her eyes and when Janet had been kidnapped and Sandra herself had been hit over the head she had lost it, being so out of her head she had just driven around in a car, not really aware of her surroundings, before ending up on the doorstep of the agency. It was amazing that she hadn't actually hit someone or something with the car, the way she had been out of it.

But they had made it through. There had of course been some complications, Kris kidnapped, Janet hung in a noose, Julie badly injured, Kelly shot in the shoulder, Kamili sliced by a knife just below the shoulder blades. Janet had been cut by a knife too, the day she and Sandra were attacked, but Janet had been so pumped up on adrenaline and it had been half-assed taken care of before they sent her out on the street as a runner. As they had found Janet they had been so worried about the bad burns around her neck to realize there was something else bothering her, and Janet, high on adrenaline and shock, had completely forgotten about the cut that had been bugging her for so many days that she had forced it further into the back of her head. Janet was strong as a bull and could absolutely fight through the pain when needed, which was sometimes a bit dangerous.

Sandra's mind wandered to back a few days after everything had calmed down and she had found Janet in bed, trying to bake her own brain.

* * *

"_I'll go and wake Janet." Sandra smiled, leaving her pancakes to go and find her friend before they were completely out of food. _

"_Good luck." Kamili giggled, eyes still in the magazine._

_Walking into Janet's room though, Sandra stopped and frowned. Already on a distance she could see how restless her friend was, the small beads of sweat on her forehead. Sitting down in her bed and placing her hand against her forehead she could feel the heat radiating from her friend. _

"_Hey, Janet?" Sandra said, gently shaking her friend awake. Janet stirred, meeting Sandra's eyes. "How are you feeling?"_

_Janet's lower lip was trembling as she searched for her voice, the words finding their way out were quiet and stuttering. "I'm c-c-cold."_

_Sandra frowned. When she had checked the thermometer this morning it had shown__ 83°F in the shade. The fact that Janet was cold scared her. _

"_I'll be right back sweetie, you just rest."_

_Janet nodded, closing her eyes again. Sandra observed her for a second before hurrying out into the kitchen. _

"_What's wrong?"_

_Sandra looked up at Kelly who had asked the question, both Kamili and Kelly could immediately see that something had made Sandra very upset. _

"_Janet's sick, I think she's got a fever. Do we have a thermometer?" _

"_Yeah in the first aid kit in the bathroom, I think." Kelly said. "I'll get it." _

_Kamili and Kelly were on their feet, Kelly hurrying to the bathroom while Kamili followed Sandra to Janet's room, Kamili wincing as she saw the state of her friend. Sitting down next to Janet in the bed, she took put her hand towards Janet's forehead, feeling Janet's body tremble below it. _

"_Jesus." Kamili whispered, feeling the heat radiating from Janet's body long before she touched her. Janet was squirming underneath her hand, not fully alert. "What happened, she was alright last night wasn't she?"_

"_I don't know what happened… She said she was tired last night and a little bit chilly, but I didn't think much of it. A lot had been going on, she had been in the sun big parts of the day, I thought she was just chilly after that." Sandra whispered as Kelly came back with a thermometer, Kamili taking it and placing it in Janet's armpit. _

_As it beeped a minute later, Janet slowly opened her eyes, realizing she was surrounded by her friends. _

"_103,2." Kelly said. _

"_Hey Jane, how are you doing over there?" Kamili smiled as she gently moved her thumb over Janet's cheek. _

"_Gonna… be sick." Janet whispered, swallowing hard. Sandra moved fast, grabbing the garbage can standing by the desk in the room, holding it close to her friend as Kamili rolled Janet over and held her as Janet retched. Kamili held one hand on the front of her shoulder, holding her up, while one hand moved across Janet's back. As her hand moved over the left shoulder blade, Janet flinched, making the other three react, looking up at each other. _

_As Janet stopped vomiting, Kelly walked outside to empty the trash while Kamili gently moved Janet onto her back, seeing her friend wincing but being too tired to argue, allowing Kamili to move her around. _

"_Hey, Janet, I want to take a look at your back, okay?"_

_Janet only answered by a small nod, she was too tired and too sick to speak, and Kamili would've moved on no matter what the answer had been anyway. Unbuttoning Janet's pajamas sweater, she gently rolled her onto her stomach with Sandra's help, allowing Janet's head to hang over the side of the bed. Gently pulling Janet's sweater off, both of them could smell the wound before they saw it. There was a compress taped to her back, not very neatly done, and as Kamili pulled it off it revealed a deep cut right across the shoulder blade. It was definitely infected, the area around it was red and swollen, and the cut oozing, with puss coming out of it. _

_Sandra was on her knees next to the bed, a hand gently brushing Janet's very short hair. Sandra had trimmed the hair the other day to make it a bit more even than Janet's initial makeover had been._

"_Janet, why didn't you tell us about that cut?" _

"_I… I forgot… 'bout it." _

_Kamili sighed as she met Sandra's eyes. There had been so much going on, shock and adrenaline taking over, fear of almost being blown to pieces and hung from a rope had maybe made her put her focus elsewhere. _

_Kelly came back into the room, and Kamili looked up at her, sighing. "We need another hospital trip." _

* * *

The honking of a horn made Sandra's mind arrive back to Washington, and she threw herself out of the way of a car coming her direction, way too close for comfort. Waving an apologetic hand to the driver, she put her hands on her knees, beating herself up for almost running out in front of a car. That would've been a bit stupid.

Sighing to herself, she stretched her back before she picked up speed again, running for a bit more on the road before she turned a right, up into the Constitution Gardens which had been her aim from the start. She usually ran here, the nature being its most beautiful self with the lush, green trees. She had always loved trees, and even if the trees here in Washington D.C couldn't come close to competing with the massive forest at home, they still made her relax. Just breathing in the scent of the trees made her pick up her speed, pushing her legs to move faster on the small gravel road leading into the park and the forest paths leading through the back of it.

They did get some gorgeous days in Hawaii as well; it was not only craziness going on and she had found the Hawaiian Islands absolutely amazing. She had tried scuba diving, and discovered a whole new world, experiencing it while floating weightlessly through the water. It had been a feeling of complete freedom, something she was not able to explain, and the fact that she could be down underwater on the fishes' terms had been fantastic. Just floating through the water, using her legs to move forward, sideways and even backwards, and using her lungs to go up and down in the water, it had been a feeling of true meditation. There's had been no sounds except her own exhales through the regulator, the bubbles coming out heading up towards the surface. She had enjoyed being able to move through this new world, seeing new fishes she had never seen before, and even though she hadn't had the opportunity to do it anymore since they left Hawaii, she was certain that she would try that a lot more in the future.

After Hawaii it had been a few calm months, their amazing Halloween-party, Thanksgiving with Kelly and Aurore and then all hell had broken lose at Barnwell County Prison. There had been a discussion afterwards to why Janet had been the guard and not Kamili as Janet had actually been to juvenile prison as a youngster, thinking that it had been stupid putting Kamili into the position she ended up in, causing her to have that stupid heart attack. Still, she might've not fared better as a guard, as Janet ended up shot. Sandra still remembered coming into the room where the riot had been at full blast, seeing Kris and Kelly down and Janet being shot by another guard. Sandra had reacted by instinct, shooting her friend's attacker down and taken command of the place.

But her brain had been boiling afterwards, so many pictures going through her head, so many thoughts, what ifs, anxiety and panic. Having been the only one uninjured, well, except for the sprained ankle, she had been left alone in her home as the others focused on rehabilitating themselves. She had been left alone in her head, and that had not been a good place to be at the time. There had been so many thoughts going through it and the anxiety refused to leave her alone. Finding alcohol in her cabinets she began drinking, realizing it was numbing the pain, realizing it was blurring out her brain, muffling the voice of anxiety's evil monster.

Not managing to get all the pain out of her chest and head, she had dug even deeper into her cabinets to find something else to drown out the panic attacks with, and she had found all the old pill bottles with heavy painkillers from earlier injuries. Taking a pill or two she realized it knocked her out so well that she even got an hour or two of sleep.

And then she got lost. She couldn't stop. She knew she should tell the others, but they were all so busy with healing themselves. Kelly was focused on Kris who was finally coming back to life as the two of them recovered, Janet was recovering from the gunshot wound and cuddling with Devin in the happiness of the pregnancy. Kamili had been really sick after the heart attack and she barely made it out of the house. And Sandra didn't have many other friends, at least not any that she would call in the time of need. She did have a couple of friends that she could go out partying with, which she ended up doing way too much, way too often and way too heavily. There had been a lot of alcohol and whatever drugs she could get her hands on. There had not been a lot of talking though.

But turning to the bottles and the pills, she would find Melissa and even if she knew in her heart that it was just a figure of her imagination, it was at least someone to talk to.

Sandra moved her hand up to her face to move both sweat and tears from her face, pushing her legs even harder as she headed up a rather steep hill. She had been so grateful that her drugged self had managed to call Kamili in the middle of the night, something she didn't remember doing. She couldn't remember them coming over at all, she just suddenly woke up in a hospital, confused, scared and feeling sick, but grateful to still be alive and promising both herself and her friends that that she would make it back to her happy self. Her mother had flown over to the States to be with her, sitting next to her as she woke in the hospital, and the two of them had decided to take the long break in Norway as Sandra was released from rehab.

She hadn't tried to end her life on purpose, she had just lost control of an addiction, but realizing how close she had come to the end had scared her. Understanding how terrified the people around her had been and knowing how much she had hurt them had caused a lot of anxiety, but Mary had gotten her on the right foot, telling her that it was not worth dragging up the past like that. Show them how much they mean to you instead. Apologize. Move forward.

Know just how loved you are.

And she had found her joy. In the slopes, with her family, in her friends. She would forever be grateful that she was still alive, because she loved her life, no matter how insane it could be at times. A smile spread across her face as she slowed down h her pace, coming out of her path close to the Lincoln Memorial. Coming down to a slow jog, zigzagging amongst all the tourists, she avoided the reflective pool where everyone else were hanging out and headed down towards the trees on the other side instead, pushing her legs up to the higher speed again as she ran through the Ash Woods, losing herself in her head again.

* * *

Many hours later, Sandra and Janet were resting in the couch after a big dinner, both of them now leaned back in front of the TV, a glass of wine in their hands just kicking back on a Sunday night. Devin had given them some alone time, offering to put Benjamin to bed for them so they could just enjoy each other's company for a while. Janet was very grateful for that, as there was one thing that had been bugging her since earlier this morning. She didn't waste any time to bring it up now as they had alone time.

"Sandra."

Sandra looked up to her friend as she heard the serious tone in Janet's voice.

"What?"

"I… I just want you to know that you are always welcome here."

"I know that Janet."

"I mean… You don't have to call and ask. You are always welcome to just drop in as well."

"Oh." Sandra smiled, sipping her wine. "I don't want to disturb you guys."

"That's just it, you're not. You could never disturb me."

"But you have a family now and-"

"Stop it. You're just as big part of my family as Benjamin and Devin. I consider you my sister and I don't ever want you to hesitate to drop in if you feel like it. Devin don't think it's weirder that you're dropping in than if Aurore, Austin or Peggy did so, I promise."

Sandra nodded, not meeting Janet's eyes.

"Bestie." Janet said, nudging Sandra's arm, but Sandra didn't look up. Janet kept talking, looking forward. "I want you to feel like home here, like you can come and go just like you used to. I know things have changed the last year, but when it comes to our friendship, nothing's changed. I would never set you aside for someone else, even if that's a man I love and my son. I love you just as much as I've always done, and I would never trade you for them. I wouldn't be able to move on without you, nor would I be able to move on without my boys. I just… I want you to feel important, because you are, you truly are. You're one of the most important key elements to my life."

Janet twirled her head towards her friend as she heard her sob, and instantly grabbed the wine glasses, putting them on the table, before she wrapped her arms around Sandra, pulling her close. Sandra's head fell to her chest, Janet putting one leg on each side of her so she could pull her as close as possible while Sandra cried against her chest, curling up in Janet's lap like a little child.

They stayed like that for a long time, Janet holding Sandra, her own tears falling silently down her cheeks while her friend trembled in her arms.

As Sandra finally calmed down, Janet still holding her tight, she took a deep breath before talking. "I was so scared that you had moved on without me."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I was gone for so long and so much happened in your life during that time. I thought… I was… It's stupid."

"Your feelings are never stupid. Please talk to me sweetheart."

Sandra stayed quiet for several minutes before picking up her voice again, Janet allowing her to take the time she needed.

"I thought that you didn't need me anymore."

"Those six months without you was one of the hardest challenges I've ever done. It took everything in me to not call you several times a day, just wanting to hear your voice, to tell you things that happened. I don't ever want to be apart from you for that long again, but I did it for your sake. Because you asked me. I would do _anything_ you asked of me. But it was painful to know you were all the way across the Atlantic, too far away from me. I wondered every day how you were doing. And I was terrified that you were doing something… You know."

Sandra let out a small chuckle. "I know about you and Olé."

Janet couldn't help but to laugh, a hand going up to wipe the tears from her cheek. "Oh. Did he tell you?"

"Yeah. Well, I kinda overheard him mention your name to mum and I wrestled it out of him."

"I hope you're not angry."

"How could I possible be angry?" Sandra said, sitting up slightly to meet Janet's eyes.

"I didn't want to tell you because I was scared that you'd think I was snooping around."

"It meant the world to me to hear that you cared enough to snoop."

"A lot of people care about you, so many people asked me about you. It felt good being able to tell them that I at least knew you were doing better. I did give the information on to Kamili and Kelly, but I guess you knew that."

"Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else."

Sandra put her head down towards Janet's shoulder, Janet leaning hers down to rest on top of Sandra's, her arm going around Sandra's shoulder, holding her tight. She had promised Sandra not to call as they shared a very hearty goodbye on the airport six months ago. Sandra wanted time alone with her head, she wanted time to understand what she really wanted out of life, time to find herself. Janet didn't want anything less for her friend, she wanted her to be happy in life and to do what she loved to do. But she had been absolutely terrified the night they had found her, and she had feared for her friend's life ever since. She knew Sandra was doing better, but she was still frightened. Knowing Sandra was too far away for Janet to be able to be there if needed, Janet had called Sandra's brother Olé. The two of them had talked for hours the first time, Janet telling Olé about everything that had happened, and then they had kept weekly contact, just to still Janet's fears. He had never gone into details in respect for his sister, but he had told Janet that she was doing better, that she had been smiling, that she had been working a bit and so on. Janet didn't need to know more. She didn't call to snoop around. She just wanted to know that her friend was walking, or perhaps skiing, the right path towards a happier self.

"I'm so happy to have you." Sandra smiled. "And Kam."

"I'm so happy that you are finally home. I know I asked when you first came back but now when you had a week to work and land a little… Do you still feel good?"

"I do. It's a little bit freaky, you know that feeling that you're just waiting for something to happen. But it feels right. This feels much better than sitting up in Tromsø with the police department. I did go there, thinking that if I were to move back home, I might work with them but damn… it was boring."

Janet could not help but to laugh out loud, understanding completely what her friend was about. They both loved the action; they both loved the adrenaline rush and they both loved working so closely to their friends.

"I know exactly what you mean. I can't wait to get back to work, but in the same time, I feel so blessed to be able to have some alone time with Benjamin while he's so small still, but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss work."

"With Kamili taking over Kelly's job more and more we will need you back you know. Madison is such a rookie, good, but a rookie, I'm the only one going into the field. We can't do that for very long."

"No, that won't work." Janet said, drinking some of forgotten wine. "Hey, how is Kamili doing?"

"Alright, I think. But you've met her more than me lately?"

"Yeah, she seemed to be really strong and back in shape, but I don't know, I get this feeling that she's weaker than she wants to tell us."

"She did tell me she's having some problem with scar tissue, I'm not sure what that means but I don't like it."

"No, me neither. We might just have to help her out in the gym."

"Did you see the new gym at the office?"

"No?"

"Oh my lord. You need to go and check it out, there's an indoor pool, a new gym as well as new living areas such as a movie area, a kitchen, a playroom with arcade games, it's really insane."

"I'll come by tomorrow to check it out."

Both girls twirled their heads when they heard someone walking behind them, watching Devin sneaking into the kitchen.

"Sorry, I don't want to disturb you." He said, excusing himself right away.

"Don't be silly." Sandra smiled. "Why don't you bring a bag of chips and join us?"

"You sure?"

"I wouldn't have said it otherwise." Sandra smiled gently.

Devin nodding as he moved into the kitchen, grabbing chips and salsa and leaned back into the couch, looking up at Janet's face. He could tell they had both been crying, but Janet smiled and nodded to him, easing his worries a bit, happy that the two of them got a chance to talk.

"It's nice to have you back Sandra." Devin smiled, leaning back into the armchair. "We missed you around here."

"Thanks Devin. It's nice to be back."


	10. Chapter 9 - Cars

**Chapter 9 **

_Monday, August 12__th__, 1985_

* * *

_Another evening of laughter and another evening of friendship. It's just like it should be as the moon watches over the witches of the capital of the United States. How lucky we all are to be dancing amongst the shadows, to hear the cries of the night and lose ourselves in dreams of the stars. _

_It's not always a pretty dream though. _

_I feel it's my duty to lay information before you, the valuable lessons I have learned after our gatherings, and you, my dear readers, know that I usually praise my sisters to the skies, praise their way of life and forward the stories they tell me. _

_But not all of the stories I hear are about love, laughter and friendship. Last night, one of my sisters told me how she had tried to murder her husband. Of course, she didn't think it was that bad, she had not intentionally wanted to kill him. The way she told me the story, so casually, about how she had prepared his dinner like she always did, just adding a little bit of a poisonous mushroom like it was no big thing. 'I wanted to see what happened,' she told me 'I have never eaten that mushroom before.' _

_Nuts, I tell you. Some of these women are nuts. Some of them have such a dark side to them that scares me. And I am not easily frightened. The way they talk about poison, the way they talk about how to make weapons and bombs and the way they talk about how they would love to try out the medieval torture tools, just to see what it would be like._

_They want to experiment. On human beings. _

_I don't think they do it. I think they just find it to be a fascinating subject like so many other things we discuss around the fires, but the mere thought of someone wanting to torture someone just to see what it would be like, screams psycho to me. _

_I really don't think that the center of their attention is a good place to be at and I know that I will certainly keep my guard up. I might consider myself to be one of their sisters, but I am first and foremost a reporter. They know this and still tell me all of it. They trust me to not use their names when I write, and they trust me to not go to the police. What would that help? As far as I know, this is just talk and imagination. You can't call the police on someone because they have crazy thoughts. Then we would all be locked up at some point in our lives, I'm sure. _

_But I am also sure of something else. If I ever go missing, or if I'm found dead under very suspicious circumstances, I want you to go look underneath the stars and above the soil because I think you'll find my killer in this group of fascinating women. _

Alicia Jonas

* * *

"Are you into witchcraft too?"

Sandra dropped the magazine down to her desk, twirled in her chair and looked up through her glasses at the young woman in front of her, having been caught by surprise as she was reading Alicia's column with her eyes wide open. Now she shook her head slightly, a bit taken aback.

"Sorry?"

"Alicia was. Into witchcraft, I mean. I just wondered if you were too?"

"No, I wouldn't say that." Sandra smiled. "It fascinates me a lot, but I wouldn't really say that it's something I'm all that into."

"I see." The woman smiled, fiddling a bit with her papers, not really looking up to meet Sandra's eyes. "I just thought you'd might be since you seem to be reading a lot of Alicia's old work."

"Oh!" Sandra smiled, trying her best to not look like she had been caught in the act. "I just know that Eva wants a new columnist and I knew she enjoyed Alicia's work a lot, so I thought I'd read up a bit on her old published work."

"I understand. I'm sorry for interrupting you, I was just curious." The young woman smiled; a bit embarrassed while pushing the big glasses up higher on her nose, the hand then moving up to place a misplaced hair back behind her ear, the rest of her hair stuck into a tight bun in her neck. Sandra looked her down and up, the woman wearing a beautifully tailored, dark fuchsia dress suit, a briefcase in hand.

"You're Mr. Howards assistant, aren't you? We never formally greeted each other." Sandra smiled gently, holding out her hand. "I'm Rosie Dawson."

"Ellen Hart." She smiled, taking Sandra's hand in a steady grip. "I guess we didn't."

"How long have you been Mr. Howard's assistant?"

"Almost six years now." She smiled, before looking up at the watch on the wall. "Oh, I'm sorry, I have to hurry off. I'll talk to you more later on, maybe lunch at some point?"

"Happily, just let me know." Sandra smiled widely, before turning the chair back to the desk, moving on to the next column.

* * *

_At some point in your life, you should go outside and dance in the rain. Dance as if you are the only living being on the planet, keeping your eyes closed so you can imagine the music in your head and dance to it with all your body. Move your hands, move your arms, your neck and the head that's attached to it and then let your body move along to your heartbeats. Feel the raindrops hit your skin and feel nature wash over you. Become one with it. Become nature. _

_I know I sound crazy. But you should totally do it. It is the most sensational feeling in the world, just blocking out everything around you. Like the whole world has hit that pause button and is watching you dance because you're the most important person in your life. _

_It doesn't matter if you can dance or not, just letting your body move will be enough to let go of the tension. Turn your face towards the sky and feel the rain against your teeth as you smile. You will not regret it. _

_We sometimes forget how it felt to be a child. To not really care about what other people think. To do things just because we wanted to, because it was funny or because we wanted to see what happened. As we grow up, we forget to play, and we lose ourselves into responsibility and the society telling us to shape up our acts if we wanted to be taken seriously. _

_I don't want you, nor do I expect you to take me seriously. I am just a writer, a columnist, who is living life to its fullest. I know it is considered taboo to say it – but I love my life. I love waking up in the morning not knowing what is about to happen. I love going to my job as every day is different and I get to meet new people all the time and hear their stories. I love my family and I love my chosen family. Some are a bit psycho, but there has to be some crazy people in every family tree, right? _

_All of us have just a certain number of hours to thread barefoot on the wet earth. A certain amount of days to lay on our backs in the grass on a meadow and wondering about the secrets of the universe. If I'm lucky enough to make it to old age, I have around 500 000 hours left. That's it. Do I really want to spend even one of those hours wondering what other people think about me? Wondering if people think I'm too silly or not serious enough? _

_The answer to that is no. _

_I don't plan on wasting my time on bad feelings or bad emotions. I vow to myself to live each day to the fullest, to wear a smile on my face and to dance in the rain like it's only me that matters. _

Alicia Jonas

* * *

"Hey guys."

"Miss Dawson, how are you?"

Sandra giggled at Kamili's greeting before sitting down next to her.

"Absolutely fine. I've been reading columns all morning, there's some weird stuff there."

"You get to tell me all about it." Kamili smiled, before gesturing to the food on the table. "I ordered the regular for you."

"Thanks." Sandra smiled, having a big drink from her Coke in front of her, before smiling up to the blonde across the table, noticing the small bruise on her forehead and taped cut. "How are you doing Jill? Kelly told us about Friday's events."

"I'm fine, a bit sore still perhaps but alright."

"Kelly also told us that there are two of them." Sandra smiled, nodding towards Jill's stomach. "I'm not sure whether to say congratulations or good luck."

Jill laughed, picking her food slightly. "Yeah, I haven't really taken that information in just yet. It might be a bit chaotic."

"We'll all help you out, you know that. If Kris can do it, so can you."

"Thanks." Jill smiled, genuinely touched as all of her friends offered their support and help, making her a little bit less terrified of what was to come. She knew what her niece and nephew had been like, and how they still were, but in the same time it felt like such a blessing to have two more children come into their lives.

"Excuse me, Miss Garrett?"

"Yes Heidi?" Kelly asked, looking up at the young waitress who were suddenly at their table.

"Mr. Townsend called, he wanted me to tell you that Miss Lee can pick her car up now." Heidi smiled, looking from Kelly, to Madison, then back to Kelly.

"Oh great, thank you Heidi." Kelly smiled.

"Do we know what kind of car it is?" Jill asked, looking up at Kelly, who shook her head.

"Sorry Jill, I have no idea. You have to wait and see."

"That reminds me." Kamili said, her face brightening up into a large smile. "I'm selling my car."

A loud 'what' was heard in unison around the table, and Kamili quickly raised both her hands up.

"And buying two new ones. Or actually, one new and one old car. I've had my eyes on the oldie forever, but I just never got around to do it. A friend of mine is driving it up from Georgia in a few days, bringing the mustang down with him. Then Charlie offered me a car as I've always used my private one while you all got company cars. It's better for insurance and stuff apparently. So if I get a company car, I figured I could trade the mustang in for something cooler."

"But you love your mustang?" Sandra asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes, but it's not a very good detective car. It really stands out and I want something less suspicious when I crawl behind the creeps."

"What are the new cars?" Jill asked, her eyes sparkling as she got to talk about her favorite subject.

"The one coming up from Georgia, my new baby doll, is a blue 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Convertible."

"Oh you are kidding me!" Jill smiled excitedly. "Transmission?"

"Automatic."

"Engine?"

"350."

"Power steering?"

"You know it."

"You are such nerds." Sandra smiled, making both Jill and Kamili pout.

"What's the other car?" Jill asked while continuing to pick her food.

"A black 1984 Audi Sport Quattro S1."

"With four-wheel drive?"

"Of course." Kamili smiled.

Jill's eyes were big and her back stretched and they could all tell that she was very excited but holding it back as Sandra had just teased her. Looking over to Kelly with her big puppy eyes, Kelly laughed and waved at her.

"Oh, go on then, tell us all about it."

"It's such a great car, in rally racing it's undefeatable. It's got a 2,133 cc 20v double overhead cam engine, Bosch LH Jetronic fuel injection and KKK K27 turbocharger, producing 305 brake horsepower. It's a beast, but it doesn't look like much. Do you get it with aluminum shell?"

"No, I've modified it a bit, ordered the rally version with the Carbon-Kevlar shell and while I was at it, I also added bullet proof windows and a backseat. It's still a two-door coupé but I figured a backseat could be needed as we are often more than two in the car. For family trips we can still take Morgan's SUV."

"I think it's a clever move to buy a quattro." Jill said. "It's a really good car."

"I'm glad you approve." Kamili smiled, scraping up the last of her food on the plate.

Kelly looked over and noticed that Jill was just picking her food, not really eating it, and she sighed as she leaned in closer to her.

"Please eat Jill."

Jill sighed, putting on elbow on the table and dropping her head into the hand, fingers sliding into her hair, turning towards Kelly, shoulders slumbering. "I'm not hungry Kelly."

"I know you are nauseas, but you have to at least try. Do it for the babies."

Jill sighed loudly, returning to picking her food, forcing small pieces of the pasta into her mouth.

"Good girl."

Jill rolled her eyes towards Kelly, eating to please her and knowing deep inside that Kelly was right, as she always were. But every piece she took threatened to come back up again and she had to constantly swallow to keep the food down.

As she finally finished her plate, long after all the others, they all sat talking for a bit before getting ready to leave. Sandra was off to the Prospect again, Kamili was heading off to United Bank and Kelly and Madison were off to get a new car. Kelly turned to Jill, not sure what her plans were.

"Do you want a ride home Jill?" Kelly asked, looking over to her friend. "I can drop you off before I drive Madison to the car dealer."

"Oh, can I come along to the car dealer before you drop me off? I'd love to see the new ride." Jill asked.

"You are supposed to be at home resting." Kelly said, teasing Jill for a bit just for the fun of it.

"Please let me come Kelly! Then I'll go straight home and rest." Jill pleaded, batting her eyelashes and showing off that Munroe-smile towards Kelly, which she knew Kelly had never been able to resist. Laughing, Kelly nodded.

"Well I always was a sucker for the Munroe-eyes."

Jill laughed, hurrying to her feet, instantly freezing and grabbing onto the table.

"Come on Jill, what have we said about moving that fast?" Kelly asked, moving over to brush Jill's back, watching her friend intently as Jill closed her eyes. All the others around the table had frozen too as they watched her breathe through the headrush, swallowing hard. Giving Jill a few moments, she soon looked up to meet Kelly's eyes, nodding carefully.

"I'm alright."

"I know you are. Just don't move that fast, I don't want you fainting on me like some damsel in distress. You're getting too heavy."

Jill giggled, gently elbowing Kelly a little as they all made their way out of the restaurant, Kelly with a protective arm around Jill's waist as they got into their separate cars.

* * *

Driving down to the dealer, Kelly was the first one in and talked to the guy by the desk for a bit while, sorting out necessary paperwork before he nodded, walking away to drive Madison's car around to them. Jill, having been sitting down in an armchair with Madison close by, got up and the trio moved outside, waiting excitedly. They didn't have to wait for long before a dark blue car came around the corner.

"Oh! A Jaguar XJS!" Jill immediately exclaimed, walking closer to it as the man got out of the car, holding the keys out, Madison happily stepping forward to take them out of his hand.

"Jill, tell us about it." Kelly smiled, humoring her friend who was walking around the car with a hand sliding along the sides of it.

"2 door coupé, five-seater. 262 horsepower, 5.3-liter V12 and a 3-speed automatic transmission. It was originally designed by the fabulous Malcolm Sayer, an aerodynamicist who applied advanced zero aero principles to cars. It's fast, zero to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds and it will top at 143 mph."

"She knows her cars." Madison giggled, sitting down into the front seat, looking around inside the beautiful vehicle.

"That's because she's Jill Munroe." The car dealer said, holding out a hand, Jill happily shaking it. "I'm a huge fan. We miss you out on the tracks, it was always a joy to watch you drive."

"Thank you, sir. It was always a joy to drive as well." Jill smiled widely, then turned back to the car as Madison fired up the engine, a massive smile on her face.

"I'll see you at the office!" Madison grinned, driving out from the parking lot, disappearing out into the traffic.

Jill and Kelly thanked the car dealer before getting into Kelly's mustang, dropping Jill off at home before Kelly drove back to the agency by herself, getting some alone time with her head. Her place in the agency had changed during the last time, she was allowing her angels to take over more and more as Charlie allowed her to take more of his place and assignments. She would call around to the other offices, they would call her asking for help and advice and Charlie was going through the books and plans with her. She was taking overall responsibilities for the massive company under the name Charles Townsend, and she had a feeling that Charlie wanted to enjoy some retirement, even if he would probably never be out of the picture for as long as he lived.

She should be happy really. When she had moved to Washington her plans had been to become the new 'Bosley', even if the original man would never be replaced. Bosley's name had become some sort of a position in the agency, and Bosley himself had laughed at it, finding it amusing. But becoming 'the Bosley', she never had any plans on going back out into the field. She had just been dragged into it, over and over, but after the prison-case she knew she had to rethink her priorities. Did she want to stay out on the field, or should she be the person in the background calling the shots but never getting involved. Of course Bosley got involved now and then, but it was never his game. He just looked out for them, just as she would look out for her angels. She loved these girls, and she would protect them with her life if she had to. But she did want out of the field, scared that something were to happen to her, leaving her children behind.

Kelly leaned her head back into the car seat as she thought about the last year. Everything had just moved on so quickly, after finally getting Kris on her feet again after coming home from the prison, she had time to focus on herself. Finding her balance in life again, finding her heart. She had been scared of her own reflection for a while there as she allowed people to beat up her best friend and number one love down in isolation, just watching them do it, hoping that Kris would fight back. She kept replaying the nightmare that was Zeke Mount and the way he had taunted her right before she watched him die. She didn't want to listen to his words, she didn't want to think of them as true, but as she had felt herself turn darker, she couldn't help but to believe him.

"_Look in the mirror. You're just like me."_

Stopping at a red light, Kelly closed her eyes again, his voice loud and clear.

"_You don't understand. And you won't understand until the day when the villain is staring you in the face… and the villain will kill you."_

That had been their last exchange of words except the ones uttered during the fight coming up afterwards. But the way he had said it had made her mind freeze. Beamish used to tell her that a monster would develop inside of her when she was not paying attention and if she wasn't careful, it would take over.

And in the aftermath of their prison case she knew she had crossed the line, by miles. She would be forever grateful to Charlie for getting her out of jail and she knew it had been a hard call for him to make. She had opened up her own eyes as well, scared at her own actions as she had just let it take over completely, not thinking for a second about the consequences. The only thing on her mind had been Kris. She loved Kris, and she needed her, and she had taken drastic actions to get her back. It had paid off; Kris had returned to her – but she had almost lost everything else.

Aurore had been scared as Kelly had sat down to tell her everything. And Kelly knew it was unconsciously, but during their first weeks home afterwards, Aurore had defensively put herself between Kelly and the children. Kelly had never questioned it and she noticed it was something Aurore had done out of reflex, but it shook Kelly to the core that Aurore, even unconsciously, was scared for the children's safety. Kelly's children. Kelly would never lay a hand on them and she would break the hand of anyone who tried to do it, but Aurore knew that Kelly was at another mindset. It wasn't her Kelly. This was someone else. The villain. She had murdered people in cold blood in the prison, it didn't matter that they were from the mobster families and had probably a pretty bad baggage as well behind them. She had still killed them. And she couldn't undo that.

But spending endless hours talking – with Aurore, with Charlie, with all the children, with Kris, with Jill, even with Damien – she had begun to find herself again. Kris coming alive next to her helped her immensely, as if a happy Kris could just fill Kelly's violent heart with joy and laughter, drowning out the darkness.

Knowing she had to find herself again she talked to Aurore for many long nights, before she packed a backpack, kissed her girls '_goodbye for now_' and took off, taking a cab to the airport and taking the first plane out of there, not caring where she ended up. Arriving to London, she had then flown to Iceland and then over to Sweden, before getting an interrail card and travelled by train through Europe, over to Asia and entered Mongolia.

And suddenly Madison was there. The young, insecure girl with her head in amongst the sky and stardust in her eyes. Kelly had never been able to explain it, and neither had Madison, as the two of them decided to travel onwards together. Continuing Kelly's journey to Beijing and then to Tokyo, they had then gotten on a plane and flown to Washington D.C. Kelly had introduced her to Aurore, the children and the Munroes before Madison had gotten on another plane and headed up to her apartment in New York.

A few weeks later that apartment had been sold, Kelly had helped her to find a new apartment in Washington and Madison had driven her motorcycle for 4 hours down interstate 95 to start her new life in the agency. Kelly was beyond thrilled as she took Madison under her wings and decided to teach her everything she knew, and Aurore had told her how happy she seemed to have found herself some joy in life, even if she sometimes referred to Madison as 'Kelly's new hobby', or 'the Garrett Project'. But seeing how happy Madison made Kelly – _without any love feelings being involved, just pure friendship_ – it also made Aurore happy, relaxing, as she could tell that their own Kelly was coming back to them.

Arriving to the office she noticed that Madison had not arrived yet, and she smiled to herself as she realized that Madison was most likely out enjoying her new car. Parking her own mustang she got out of the car and headed into the office, planning to sit down and go through more of the notebooks, hoping to find something of interest. They had been reading quite a bit of it already, but it was all notes that didn't make much sense to them, they had no context and it was difficult to puzzle it all together.

* * *

Kamili had taken her car over to United Banks, calling Patrick Miller as she left the restaurant, he now met her in the door as she arrived.

"Mrs. Diallo?"

"Hi sir, nice meeting you. Thank you so much for helping me out."

"Let's move in. I put my people on doing some research and we have found a safety deposit in the name of Alicia Jonas."

"I have a letter of authorization that her sister has written, giving us permission to all of Alicia's belongings, if you need to see it."

"That's quite alright. I trust James Roberts' word. If he tells me that you are good, then I will believe that." Patrick Miller said as they moved in through the bank, coming into a backroom of the bank where he introduced Kamili to one of the bankers.

"This is Mrs. Diallo. She's here to open the safety deposit with number 43552. I give her permission to empty all of it."

"Good sir." The bank that had met them said before Patrick Miller shook Kamili's hand left the two of them alone.

Kamili was guided into a room where they held the safety deposit boxes and walked up to the one with the number 43552, the one Patrick had mentioned.

"You do have the key, correct?"

"Yes." Kamili smiled, pulling it up and inserting it into the keyhole. The box slid open with ease, and the only thing inside of it was a small briefcase. Kamili pulled it out, looking it over for a second, noticing notebooks, paperclips and photos inside of it. Bingo. This could definitely be one of the things they needed to put the last pieces of the puzzle together.

With the briefcase under her arm, Kamili walked out towards her car again, smiling as she slid down into the driver seat, driving back to the office to go through everything she could find in the briefcase. There had to be something in there, some kind of clue of some sort. They had been reading through endless notes, articles and columns but so far, they hadn't found anything that could lead them onwards. They could guess who several of the people Alicia mentioned in the columns but that didn't mean that they had killed her. They needed some solid evidence, something they could put their hands on. The notebooks found in the couch had been filled with notes and half written stories but seemed to be hidden because Alicia wanted to hide it while waiting for them to be published, not because they could kill her.

Arriving to the office Kamili could see a beautiful, dark blue Jaguar on the backside of the office where they kept their cars, and she understood that Madison's new car had arrived. Parking her own mustang next to it she took two laps around the beautiful machine, just enjoying the beautiful lines of it, before she walked into the office and pushed herself up the stairs.

Stairs were truly the worst and she was so frustrated with herself that just one flight of stairs was knocking her out. Three steps from the top her body forced her down to a rest, her head swimming and bile rising up into her mouth. Sighing loudly she sat down, her back against the wall as she put a hand against her face, just breathing through the nausea. Stupid stairs. Stupid, stupid stairs. Stupid, stupid heart.

She had been in and out of the hospital ever since coming home from prison, getting to know the cardiologist Dr Daniel Harris very well. It had been a slow process and it had felt like she took two steps forward and then one step back the entire time, but he was happy with her progress anyway even if she was frustrated.

She could feel the hard drumming of the heart and as always, she tried to focus on her breathing, knowing it would not take long before it relaxed, but she had to sit down and breathe.

Kamili could hear someone at the bottom of the stair, fast feet hurrying up, two steps at the time. Kamili opened her eyes slowly as she felt a hand on her knee, smiling to Sandra who sat down next to her in the stair, leaning against Kamili's bent knees.

"I'm okay." Kamili said, wishing that her voice had been stronger than it was.

"I can see that." Sandra said sarcastically, tilting her head. "You normally rest at the top of the stair."

"Just give me a few minutes Sandra. I just need to rest." Kamili wheezed through her fast breaths, closing her eyes again as she went back to focus on her breathing.

Sandra leaned her back against the opposite wall, putting her feet against Kamili's, just observing her friend as Kamili rested. She hated seeing her friend ill, hoping that she had come further in her rehabilitation. Having been in Norway she had only talked to Kamili a few times during the six months, but she had told her that she was recovering well even if it was a bit slow.

The two friends sat still for about a minute before Kamili exhaled deeply, her eyes opening carefully to make sure the world had stopped spinning. She met her friend's worried face straight away, also leaning back with her head against the wall.

"Hi." Sandra smiled gently. "Better?"

"Yeah." Kamili said tiredly.

"How are you really doing? Please tell me, I think it's important that I know in case something was to happen to you."

Kamili took a deep breath, meeting Sandra's worried eyes. "There's scar tissue from the heart attack, which has caused me to develop something called ventricular tachycardia, a form of arrhythmia which speeds up my heartrate. It comes and goes, and I can usually slow the heartrate down again by myself, just like now. I haven't had much problems with it, but lately I've experienced more and more of it. "

"Is it something Dr. Harris can treat?"

"As I haven't had that much trouble with it until recently it hasn't been necessary, but I talked to Harris on the phone last week, asking for an appointment for a new exam. He's out of town for the moment though so I'll have to wait for a few weeks."

"A few _weeks_?"

"Don't worry Sandra, I can handle it. It's not too bad, most of the times the flares only last for a few seconds. I just have to try to not overexert myself. If an emergency were to show up, they do have other cardiologists at the hospital."

Sandra nodded. "I understand. For starters you can use the elevator until you've had that exam."

Kamili rolled her eyes but nodded with a smile.

"Can you get up?"

"I think so." Kamili said, smiling as Sandra got to her feet and leaned down to help her friend up, grabbing Kamili's purse and the briefcase for her. Keeping an arm around her waist she helped her up the remaining steps of the stair, letting go of her a few steps before the two of them walked into the office. Kelly and Madison both looked up at them as they walked inside, greeting them happily. Kamili could immediately see Kelly's suspicious look but a smile and a nod kept Kelly from asking.

"Did you find her safety deposit box?" Madison asked, nodding towards the briefcase.

"Sure did." Kamili smiled, holding the briefcase up as she sat down in the couch next to Madison, opening it up and beginning to empty it. An envelope with black and white photos which Sandra immediately snatched up, a leather case with several notebooks inside of it, tied together with a rubber band, loads of paper clippings in a folder and several tapes.

Madison leaned over and took the leather case with the notebooks, taking the rubber band off and opening up the first book. It was fully scribbled with notes, most of them not making much sense to Madison as it was all a big jumble of words, a writer's brain just scribbling whatever it was thinking about at a random place in the book. Some of the words were highlighted as they had been written several times as if they were more important, but it made no sense whatsoever. Madison had hoped that it would be a little clearer to them what Alicia was thinking about just before she died but it didn't seem like that would be the case as the next notebook looked just the same, all of it just scribbles.

"Woah."

Opening the third notebook, Madison suddenly grinned, the other three looking up at her as she showed them what she had found.

"Is that a diary?" Sandra asked, instantly moving around so that she was standing behind Madison and Kamili, looking over Madison's shoulder.

"Sure looks like it." Kamili said, also leaning over Madison as she tried to get a better look. "Wow, that's great."

Madison flicked the book to find the last notes and all three angels took a deep breath as they read the very last note. Madison read it out loud for Kelly's sake, who was still sitting just in front of them, holding the file with paper clips.

_6-24. 5108, ceremonial grounds, information. _

"That was the last thing she wrote before she died." Sandra said, her arms resting against the backrest just behind Madison.

"6-24 must be the date, June 24th. That was about six weeks ago, which was around the time she disappeared." Kamili said, thinking out loud.

"What is 5108?" Sandra pondered while her two friends shrugged their shoulders.

"Or who is?" Kelly said, raising an eyebrow, her three angels looking up at her, nodding.

"What are the paper clippings?" Kamili asked, nodding towards the file in Kelly's hand.

"Seems to be all sorts of things, none of it her own but all of it seems witch-related. I will have to read them through more thoroughly." Kelly said, shrugging a bit.

"What's on the pictures?" Kamili said, looking over her shoulder to Sandra who walked back to sit down next to Kelly.

"All sorts of things. People. Some of them are from the witch meetings, some are from her workplace, some are from all over town."

"Well, at least we have something to do. Madison, go through the notebooks, try to make sense of it. I'll read the paper clippings, Sandra can look at the photos, take notes, compare them to the other photos we have, and Kam, do you want to listen to the tapes?"

"Absolutely, sounds like great fun." Kamili grinned, picking up the tapes.


	11. Chapter 10 - Fire

**Chapter 10 **

_Tuesday, August 13__th__, 1985_

* * *

_It's very popular among the sisters to grow their own produce and I think that's a wonderful thing. Some of these women have their own little farms where they have some farm animals and vegetable patches where they grow potatoes, carrots, lettuce and corn. I think it's a so nice to know where your food comes from, to know that it's been cared and loved for, knowing there are no mad transportation of the animals or weird things sprayed on my cucumbers. It's just fresh, healthy food. _

_One of my sisters have this beautiful farm very close to the ceremonial area where we often go. The farm is big enough for two people to care for themselves and whenever it's harvest season, we go there to help out with bringing in the hay and the seeds from the fields. It's always a joyous week where all sisters help out, then we eat, and we drink, and we dance. We dance a lot. _

_Now, I haven't had the time to try it yet, but there has been talk that she also grows things that might be legal to grow, but I'm not sure they are legal to eat. They become sort of hallucinogens, making you see and feel things that are outer worldly. The sisters have told me that during the full moons, it's another beautiful thing to sit around amongst the raised stones and disappear into another world. _

_Personally, I find drugs and especially hallucinogens very frightening, but that might just be my own head talking, the control freak that I am can't even imagine not being in complete control of myself. I've accepted that I can't control the world around me but not being able to control myself is just scary. Who knows what one could do when hallucinating? What if I were to hurt someone else? Could I potentially kill someone else? And if I did, would I remember it?_

_I might be overreacting but just the mere thought makes me think and makes me worry. What if one of the girls got killed or badly injured during one of those meetings, or whatever they call it? Would anyone realize what had happened? Even the people there would have a hard time if they were all lost in their imagination. Okay, now I'm sure I'm overreacting. Maybe I should go to one of the tea parties just to see what it's like. To experience the thing, something to check off my 'have-done'-list. What do you think? How bad could it be?_

_Maybe it's could be fantastic. What if I have the most incredible time and experience and learn things about myself that I never knew? Maybe I can grow as a person, grow as a writer, grow as a reporter and maybe I can find a story somewhere amongst the produce on that farm. _

_But if I go there, try their snacks and then get killed, you know who to talk to. _

_What am I getting myself into? _

Alicia Jonas

* * *

"She must be talking about Annabelle." Madison said, having read the column out loud to Kelly and Kamili. "She has a farm right by the ceremonial area."

"So do we think that there might've been some drugs involved when Alicia was killed?" Kamili said, leaning back into an armchair, a pen drumming against her knee as her brain was busy thinking. They had been sitting here the entire day, just comparing notes, trying to put names in the columns, as well as listening to Alicia's tapes which had been recordings both with only her talking, but also from interviews she'd done. Kamili had been sitting all night before listening to them and taking notes, hoping to get some clarity into their victim's brain. Kelly had been reading the paper clippings, realizing that Alicia had probably been suspecting something was going on as several of the clippings had been missing people reports, all of it young girls. Madison had been trying to make sense of the notes, with Kelly's thoughts in mind she looked for notes that could have to do with missing people. It was very slow work and they were getting ready to call it a day.

The phone suddenly rung by the desk, and Kamili, sitting closest to it, leaned over and picked it up.

"Townsend Agency."

"Hi Kam, it's me."

"Hey." Kamili said, clicking on the speaker phone as she heard Sandra's voice.

"Sandra? What are you up to?"

"I'm heading to the witch meeting. I just wanted to check in with you first, how are things?"

"Slow. Our eyes are all sore from reading all day and we're about to head home. There's something there but we can't see it." Kelly said, rubbing her eyes slightly as if to underline her words.

"We need more clues." Sandra said, the others agreeing. "Well, I'll be digging, carefully, tonight."

"Okay, good luck." Kamili smiled.

"Be careful." Kelly added before Sandra ended the call.

* * *

On her way home, Kamili decided to drop by the hospital in search of her sister. Walking down the familiar hallways she found her sister in her new office, standing up with one hand against the wall, the others towards her mouth, coughing violently. Kamili stopped in the door, Tara twirling on her heel but relaxed as she saw Kamili, still coughing. Kamili leaned against the doorframe, allowing her sister to collect herself. As Tara's harsh coughing finally eased up, she shrugged her shoulders towards Kamili.

"I'm okay."

"You're sick." She stated, and Tara immediately rolled her eyes, pushing past her sister and begun walking away from her, down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Kamili asked confused, following Tara.

"I have to work." Tara mumbled.

"Tara!" Kamili growled through her teeth, annoyed, as she grabbed onto her upper arm, stopping her mid-stride and dragging her aside, out of the eyesight of passing nurses.

"I'm fine Kam." Tara snapped quietly, pulling her arm away from Kamili's hand.

"Don't be ridiculous, I can see that you're not. I don't have to be a doctor to see that."

"I'm not the one being ridi-" Tara begun in a loud voice, but was once again interrupted by the cough, this time it hit her with full force, and she had to grab onto something as she swayed while coughing. Kamili quickly grabbed her flailing arm by the elbow, and held her steady as she coughed, then pushing her backwards into a plastic chair, Tara putting her head between her knees as she tried to steady her own breathing.

"Please go home." Kamili said quietly, crouching in front of Tara, her hands resting gently on top of Tara's head.

"I can't." Tara breathed weakly, swallowing hard. "There's not enough doctors here-"

"But you're sick."

"It's my responsibility now to-"

"But you're sick."

Tara sighed deeply as she moved her head up, meeting Kamili's worried eyes, their foreheads connecting.

"I know. But it's nothing. I got a few more hours on my shift. After that I'm already planning to get some cough medicine and then head home to my bed."

"I will come by when I've tucked Yasmin in and if you're not resting by then, I will have to take drastic actions."

"Don't you dare call mama." Tara wheezed, moving backwards towards the wall.

Kamili just shrugged her shoulder in a '_I'll make no promises_'-fashion, before putting her head to its side. "I'm just worried about you."

"I know." Tara smiled, reaching up to grab her sister's hand. "But I will be fine. Go get your daughter, have dinner. Come by my place later but don't wake me up if I'm sleeping."

"I promise." Kamili smiled, pulling her sister up to standing position and pulling her into a hug. "Be careful."

"I am Kamili, I promise."

The sisters let go of each other, and Kamili looked over her shoulder as she walked down the hallway, leaving the hospital. Tara took a few breaths, collecting herself before turning around, then instantly stopped as she saw one of her co-workers, emergency doctor Mark Hickins, standing across the room, blocking the doorway back to the reception, just observing her with his eyebrow raised and arms across his chest. Stretching her back a bit she walked up to him, trying to walk past him, but he grabbed her upper arm.

"You need to rest." He said, his Boston accent strong and his voice determined.

"I'm fine Mark, really."

Mark let out a chuckle and shook his head.

"Yeah, right. You sound very healthy, if one were to classify pneumonia as healthy. Would you at least let me listen to you?"

"No, that's just a waste of time, it's not that bad. Just go back to work." Tara said, annoyed, trying to push past him, but he would not let go of her arm.

"Sweetie?" He whispered, his voice changing to one of concern.

"Mark, I don't-" Tara protested, but the cough interrupted her the minute she raised her voice. Mark grabbed a hold of her and pulled her into a nearby exam room, locking the door behind them to leave nosy nurses out as he pushed Tara over to an examination table, making her sit down. Tara was wheezing as the coughing subsided, having grabbed one of the blue emesis bags as she walked by it, she was now spitting lumps into it. Mark helped her out of her doctor's coat, slipping a hand inside her burgundy blouse to place a stethoscope against her chest, Tara finally giving in and allowing him to work. Mark was expecting Tara to do whatever she was supposed to do without him having to ask her, but as she was just sitting down wheezing, he gently put his hand on her upper back.

"Can you take a deep breath?" He asked, his voice letting on that it was more of a question if it was actually possible rather than asking her to do it.

"No." Tara said quietly.

Mark made a point of sighing as loudly as he could, listening as she begun coughing again, moving the stethoscope to her back, his hand moving to the front of her shoulder to keep her up as she coughed until she made herself retch. Mark winced as he helped her out, holding her upright, and as she finally finished, she was exhausted, her chest burning, her breaths coming out in very fast, small wheezes.

"Jeez." Mark said quietly, taking the bag from her. Tara could hear him move around for a bit inside the room before he was suddenly next to her again, holding an oxygen mask to her face. She gave a weak try to swat him away, but he held it firmly while putting one hand on her shoulder.

"Would you just stop fighting me, I need you breathing. That's definitely pneumonia, or at least well on your way. We really should do a chest x-ray to-" He said.

"Absolutely not."

"Tara, you sound really-"

"I don't want people to think I can't cut it." Tara whispered through the mask, cry in her voice as she let her secrets out to Mark. He pulled the strap over her head to keep the mask in place before he sighed, sitting down next to her on the table, wrapping his arm around her, pulling her close, his cheek towards her head.

"Honey, no one thinks that. Everyone here has the uttermost respect for you, and everyone knows how strong-minded you are. Everyone gets sick now and then, even doctors, but the fact that you left this for so long is making it worse, you know better than that. Martha and I can sort you out in a heartbeat and under the table if you let us, the student nurses don't have to know everything, but you really do not sound well and unless you go home and rest I will have to forcibly admit you."

"You're not allowed to do that." Tara said, smiling up to him through the mask.

"No but I'll do it anyway. We have restraints, for the crazy patients. Just don't rat me out to my chief." Mark smiled widely, giving her a wink. "But if you go home and rest for a week at least I don't have to do that."

"But you know that there's not enough doctors-"

"You're no help to us anyway if you die. Go home. I'll talk to Martha; we'll make a few calls and we'll sort you out. You go home and tuck yourself down, I'll prescribe you some antibiotics and drop by later."

"Kam is coming over tonight."

"I'll be in and out before her. You stay here, lie down for a little while and just breathe a bit, I'll have Martha grab your things and come and get you so you can catch a taxi home. I'll drive your car over later."

Tara nodded, eyes dropping, and Mark instinctively pulled her closer, brushing her back, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "You need to take care of yourself sweetheart."

"I thought that was what I have you for."

"I try, God knows I try. But doctors really are the worst patients."

* * *

Kelly left the office and drove down to Aurore's restaurant, finding Jill and Aurore were waiting outside when she arrived, the two of them got into the car as Kelly turned it homebound.

"Everything good at the restaurant?" Kelly asked, smiling to her partner who leaned back into the seat.

"All good. I worked the lunch-rush, so Erica is doing the evening. It was ridiculously busy, we had every table full, and a queue for take-away."

"I'm happy that it's doing so good." Kelly smiled gently. "I'm so proud of you, you little pastry chef."

Aurore couldn't help but to laugh. She sure had turned her career around, and it was truly blossoming. She was very proud of herself as well, happy to have achieved her goals. At college, she had studied history, but she never seemed to be able to her get herself out of the kitchen. Her French mother had moved back to France when Aurore's parents divorced, Aurore being 8 years old. They spoke almost daily on the phone still and had always kept contact, and the vineyards of Bordeaux was a place Aurore held very dear. She had yet to bring Kelly there, but it was on the bucket list. Her mother had taught her how to cook at an early age and she had never stopped doing it, loving to feel the heat of the kitchen. Not thinking she could handle the stress though, she decided to become a pastry chef after attending chef's school. Opening up a small café had been a dream come true, and she still owned the café downtown even if it was completely operated by another pastry chef now. But being a good businesswoman, and loving that little café with the blue chairs, she had decided to keep it in her possession.

"I'm rather proud of myself as well." Aurore grinned before changing the subject. "How's your day been?"

"Long and boring. We've been reading through notes and magazines all day, my eyes want a nap."

"You don't have any idea to who did it? No clues?"

"No, we've been searching like mad but so far we've come up short. We are all reading through every article, story and column that our victim ever wrote but we can't find any leads."

"So how do you-"

"Kelly, can you pull over please?" Jill suddenly interrupted them, having been sitting quiet in the backseat the whole ride so far.

Kelly looked up in the mirror for a second before turning off the road. Before she had even had time to stop the car fully, Jill was out of it, and bending over as she retched violently into the ditch. Kelly and Aurore were at her side in an instant, Aurore who was first out grabbed her by the waist to keep her standing as dizziness came over her. Kelly grabbed her too, and the two of them pulled her backwards to sit down in the passenger seat, putting her head down as far as her already showing belly would allow. Aurore went to her purse and fished up a bottle of water, crunching in front of Jill who sat with her eyes closed, Kelly's hand on her neck keeping her grounded as she swayed dangerously.

"I'd say the meds are not working then."

Jill let out a small laugh, then groaned, swallowing, moving her hands to her head.

Aurore gave Kelly the bottle as she went to the trunk of the car and rummaging about amongst the food she had brought, she pulled up a lemon.

"Kelly, do you have a knife?"

Kelly nodded as she dove into her shoe and pulled up a small knife, the blade just two inches long. Aurore looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but Kelly just shrugged her shoulders with a smirk. Aurore shook her head before she crunched down again in front of Jill as she began to cut the lemon. It had an instant effect on Jill, who's head popped up, her nose sniffing in the air. A shaky hand reached out and grabbed one of the lemon-halves, and bringing it up to her nose, the other two could instantly see her relax. It was Kelly's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"The scent of lemon can sometimes ease nausea, I noticed at the club that Jill was feeling a lot better while I was cutting lemons."

It took another 10 minutes before Jill felt good enough to move into the car and allow Kelly to keep driving. Aurore got into the back seat, and Kelly rolled down the windows to get some fresh air into the clammy car.

"Motion sickness Jill?" Kelly said carefully. "That's a new one."

Jill smiled weakly as she had her head back to the headrest, her eyes closed, too tired to answer, lemon still in her hands that were resting in her lap.

"Maybe we should call the newspapers." Aurore giggled. "_Former formula 1 World Cup runner up Jill Munroe struggles with motion sickness!_ Maybe we could get rich on these headlines."

Jill laughed slightly; the irony was fantastic. "I'll give you money if you don't call them."

Aurore laughed, patted Jill's shoulder carefully. "Spend it at the club."

"I already am." Jill smiled, still with her eyes closed. She was still certain that these kids she was carrying were trying to kill her.

* * *

That evening, after she had tucked Yasmin in and read her a goodnight story about airplanes, she had kissed her husband goodnight and headed over to Tara's apartment. Now she used her own key to let herself in. The lights were off and there was a silence throughout the place. Kamili didn't bother turning any lights on as there was still a lot of lights coming in through the windows and she knew her way around here.

She tiptoed through the living room, quietly opening the closed door leading to the bedroom. Peaking her head in, she immediately saw her sister, sleeping in the bed. She had propped herself up on several pillows for some elevation and Kamili could see a water bottle on the bedside table next to her, together with several different bottles of medications. Kamili walked in quietly to look at them, noticing, as she had thought, that most of them were coughing medicine and aspirin but also things such as antibiotics and expectorants. The detective awake inside her, she also noticed that most of the medicine had been written out for her today, by Mark, a doctor Kamili knew her sister was very close to as they had been working together since they both did their internship and it made her happy that she had at least confined in him. Then again, knowing Mark, he had probably pried it out of her.

Closing the door to her sister's bedroom, she got herself a cup of tea before she sat down in the living room for a while, turning on one of the floor lamps before pulling up the magazines that Sandra had gotten her, now piling up to the span of the last four years. There had to be something in there, somewhere, that they were missing, she just couldn't seem to find out _what_.

Kamili focused on the columns, finding them way more interesting than the actual articles, reading the columns in the order they had been published. During the oldest ones, there was no mentioning of the witches or anything associated with them, but reading further along, it was creeping through between the lines of other subjects. In the beginning it was just small hints, but as weeks passed it got more and more elaborate. There were never any names mentioned, but Kamili had a feeling that if someone who went to the meetings and knew all the people read the column, they could guess who she was writing about.

Kamili dug in her purse after her blue pen and she highlighted several areas where there were rather strong references to other people within the society and she reminded herself to ask Madison and Sandra if they could guess who the people Alicia was writing about could be. Someone, or several someones, could've been offended, angry or likewise. But angry enough to burn someone at the stake? It didn't sound correct.

But then again, during her time here she had certainly learned that she did not always understand the mind of a killer.

* * *

In the same time, across town, Sandra was once again dressed in black, having just enjoyed a nice meal and some friendly conversation with the other women, now sitting talking to Misha and a few – to her – new faces. It had been a calm evening, nothing much going on, discussions had as always started about Alicia but now moved onto a name that Sandra didn't recognize.

"Do you guys remember Ava Miller?" Misha asked, leaning back into the couch.

"Oh yeah. Craziest person who ever put her foot in here. I wonder what happened to her."

"I bet someone killed her."

Now Sandra was for sure quite tired, the night creeping in, but that sentence made the detective inside of her go on full alert. With the others in there already knowing she was a detective, she didn't even try to hide it.

"Wait, what?"

Misha turned to her. "We used to have a girl here at every meeting before. Ava was her name. Believed herself to have actual magic powers, happily casting spells, making potions. She was loud, outspoken, impossible to miss whenever she was around, annoyed people to their breaking limits. Happily talked to everyone, even out on town, about the things her magic could do."

"She sounds like a special woman." Sandra said, an eyebrow going up. One of the other girls in the couch nodded to her.

"Special in many ways. I always liked her. She was a hoot being round."

"Then why do you think someone killed her?"

"She pissed people off. She really got on people's nerves. Both here and out and about. We joked about it often, that one day she will piss off the wrong person and that will be it."

"A lot of people here was angry with her as well for telling people outside the community about all secrets going on in here." Another girl added.

"And then she just disappeared, and no one has heard of her since then." A girl in the opposite couch said.

Sandra sat quiet, thinking about what could've possibly happened, thinking about the paper clippings. Was there something there about witches? Dead women? Missing women? She didn't remember, it was the others who had been reading the clippings and notes. She had to call Kelly in the morning and see if the name Ava Miller meant anything to her.

"Has there been any other-"

Sandra's question was suddenly cut short by a voice screaming at the opposite side of the building.

"Fire! There's a fire!"

Next moment, there was complete chaos. There was a lot of people in the building, and with only one entrance to the building it was doomed to be hysteria as everyone wanted to get out at the same time. Some girls tried to open the large barn doors through which the tractors would've entered once upon a time but gave it up as they appeared to be jammed shut.

Sandra felt herself being pressed into the crowd, not having much to say as people pushed from behind, but people in front not being able to move fast enough jammed up the door. Panic was breaking out as the smoke filled the room, people were crying, some were screaming in fear and some were screaming in anger as the flames begun licking the walls of the old wooden building. Sandra tried to move sideways, having to get out of the group of people. She couldn't breath in there, feeling herself squished down in between. Moving was hard and she fought to keep herself upright, knowing that if she fell right in that crowd, she might not survive as they would probably just stomp her down.

Using her strong body she managed to wriggle free from the grip of the crowd, making her way out of it and towards the back, moving over to the wall with the least smoke by it, looking around. The far-off wall, furthest away from them, was now covered in the yellow-orange flames, tall flames climbing up towards the roof. The old barn was burning fast, but luckily the queue of people by the door suddenly seemed to be moving, coughing people finally moving forwards and out into the safety of freedom and fresh air. As Sandra saw them move forward, she exhaled as well, knowing that if she just waited for a moment she would be able to get out too, she just needed to have some patience, which was hard here. Dark smoke was filling up the place fast, making her cough harshly and her eyes to water. Holding out as she saw the last of the line move forward, she walked to the back of the line, staggering a bit, pulling up the shawl she was wearing to shield her face from the smoke, but seeing the open door kept her moving.

But she never made it to the door. Just as she moved from the wall, in the darkness and the smoke, a black figure suddenly appeared and the last thing she remembered was something that came swinging.


	12. Chapter 11 - Pneumonia

**Chapter 11**

_Wednesday, August 14__th__, 1985_

* * *

Kamili jerked up as the phone sounded loudly, and her head popped up as she looked around, disorientated. Tara was looking around as well, trying to locate the source of the sound, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Kamili rolled out of bed and walked up to the phone hanging on the wall, picking it down, answering it.

"Tara's place, Kam here."

"Hey it's me."

Kamili rubbed her tired eyes as she heard her husband's voice in the phone, looking over at the clock by the bed she noticed that it was just past midnight. Why would he call at this time?

"What's wrong?" Kamili asked, instantly worried about her daughter.

"The hospital called. Sandra has you listed as her emergency contact."

"Shit, what's wrong?"

"Apparently there was a fire. I don't know much, I didn't want to pry. But it didn't sound like anything life-threatening."

"Okay, I'll head down there. Thanks. Talk to you later."

"Sure. Give Sandra my love."

Kamili hung up the phone, looking down at herself she remembered that she had gone to bed in her clothes last night after helping Tara out in the bathroom for the third time. She couldn't have been sleeping for more than an hour.

Contemplating weather to call the others, she decided to head down to the hospital first before making calls, to make sure Sandra was alright. Looking over to her sister who was still tossing a bit in the bed she sighed, hoping that she would stay in and take it easy today. Hopefully she could come back here and check on her later. But first, Sandra.

* * *

Not long after, Kamili walked into Sandra's room, instantly hurried to her side. Sandra had her head deep into the pillow, looking a bit sick and tired, breathing shallowly into a mask.

"Are you okay?" Kamili asked, moving to Sandra's side. Sandra's eyes slowly moved to meet Kamili's and she smiled, moving a hand to remove the mask.

"No way, that stays on." Kamili said straight away, moving Sandra's hand away. "You can talk with it, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Are you okay though? You look blurry."

Kamili couldn't help but to let out a laugh, squeezing Sandra's shoulder.

"What happened sweetie? Doctor told me there was a fire? How did you get a concussion?"

Sandra moved her hand back up to the mask, lifting it a bit to be able to talk better, Kamili leaning closer as she could hear that Sandra's voice was hoarse and raspy. "There was a fire, in the barn where the meetings are held. There's only one door into it and everyone tried to get out at the same time. I stayed back a bit, trying to be patient and waiting for my turn when someone banged me on the back of my head. The firemen found me, apparently."

"You didn't see anyone?" Kamili asked, her hand moving to Sandra's to push the mask back on.

"No." Sandra said, her eyelids getting heavier.

"I'm gonna let you sleep sweetie, doctor said that you will be able to go home in a day or two, they are just keeping you for observation. You got that nasty bump on the back of your head and you did inhale quite a bit of smoke. I'll pop by your place and make sure the animals are looked after and I'll call the others and we'll meet up here later on, okay?"

"Can you call Mary as well? I'm supposed to meet her before lunch."

"Of course, I'll call her. You just rest."

* * *

Walking into the office several hours later, Kamili found Kelly and Madison sitting by the desk, Charlie's voice booming out through the speaker phone.

"Kamili, what's going on?"

Kamili had called all of them a little while ago, telling them to meet her at the office, but that things were under control and that she had to get a few hours sleep before they met. They were of course very worried by now, wondering what had happened.

"There was a fire at the witch meeting last night, someone banged Sandra over the head and she was pulled out by the firemen. I don't know much more than that, neither does she. Madison, maybe you should head over to her roommate and see if she knows what happened."

"Okay, I'll do that." Madison nodded, but Kamili could see how she turned nervous.

"If you don't feel comfortable with it, it's fine. But if Kelly or I go we might lose possible covers later on."

"No, it's okay, I can do it." Madison smiled, nodding a bit more determined this time.

"Okay, good."

"How is Sandra?" Charlie said through the speaker.

"Oh, she's alright, I went and saw her last night, they let me in to her for a few minutes. There was a bit of smoke inhalation of course and she has a nasty bump on the back of her head, but other than that she's alright."

"Okay, good." Kelly said. "We'll go down there later on and check on her."

"For sure."

"In the meantime, have you found anything in the magazines that Sandra collected?"

"I did sit up late last night reading more of Alicia's works. I've highlighted some of it..."

As she talked, Kamili sat down in one of the armchairs, pulling the magazines up, finding the ones where she had begun highlighting and held them out for Madison.

"Have a read through and see if anyone reminds you of someone you met."

Madison nodded, taking the handful and turned her focus onto them.

"I read through all the paper clippings and did some of my own research in the area." Kelly said, gesturing to notes in front of her. "Two other women have disappeared from the Washington area during the three years, and both of them were involved in the witch community. There is no mention of their bodies every being found. But maybe Alicia were onto their trails and the killer found out and killed her too."

"That sounds like a likely scenario."

"But then the killer must also know that she was getting onto the trails. Do we think she talked all that openly about it or have someone read some of her drafts? And where are her drafts, there should be some of them somewhere.

"Maybe the old drafts are being kept at the Prospect? Sandra said the woman named Eva was in charge and everything you wanted published had to go through her."

"Eva is definitely on the list of suspects then." Kelly said. "But we will have a hard time getting to the drafts, if she even keeps them that is. She could just as well shred all of the things she doesn't like."

"We need to figure out a way to get into her office, see if we can find something in there of value." Kamili said, leaning back in the armchair.

"That could prove tricky though." Kelly said. "We don't want to get caught with the fingers in the cookie jar."

"We'll find a way." Madison smiled.

"We will, absolutely. I do think we need to concentrate on those witch meetings as well. Something is definitely going on there." Kamili smiled, Madison nodding along still with her nose in the magazines.

"Seems like you're on the right track Angels. Keep in touch and call me when you met with Sandra." Charlie said through the phone, the sentence was then followed by a click as he hung up the phone.

"Well, I'll take off to see Misha then. Lunch after that?"

"Yes." Kelly smiled. "You go, call us if there's anything. Kamili and I will keep going through the magazines and notes. Meet up at Aurore's in an hour and a half? Then we'll swing by Sandra and see how she is feeling and if she remembers anything else."

"Okay." Madison smiled, fishing up her car keys.

"Enjoying the new car, are we?" Kamili asked, grinning as she saw how happy Madison looked.

"I got a speeding ticket yesterday." Madison smiled, laughing a bit. "I might've enjoyed the car a little bit too much."

"Good girl." Kamili grinned, proudly. This young bird was spreading her wings.

* * *

"Hey, I forgot to ask, how did it go with Misha?" Kamili asked as she scraped off the last pieces of food from her plate, looking up to Madison who shrugged her shoulders.

"She didn't see anything. They were all panicking, wanting to get out, and it wasn't until later, when the firemen appeared and asked if someone was missing that they realized that Sandra was not with them. Apparently, the firemen went in and found her right by the door, dragged her out just before the roof caved in. They got paramedics and shot off with her. Misha didn't really know anything else."

"Understandable, people in a fire is usually a bit busy with other things." Kelly said, scraping her plate as well as Madison and Kamili nodded.

"Did you find anything more in the magazine and notes?"

"Not really, nothing that can lead us anywhere anyway." Kelly answered, nodding to the other two. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's see Sandra."

"Did you call Janet?" Kelly asked as she got up from the seat, taking her purse, the others joining in, walking down to the cars.

"Yeah, she should be there. She was very worried so she said she would head down straight away. I called Mary as well, Sandra said she had an appointment with her today, she should've been there by now though, she said she would drop by before lunch."

"That's nice of her, to drop by at the hospital I mean."

Kamili nodded towards Kelly as they got out to the parking lot. "I agree, very sweet. Good for Sandra to talk a bit about what happened as well, I bet she needs it."

"I believe she does too. Okay, let's meet at the hospital." Kelly smiled as they all got into several cars, heading down in a caravan to the hospital.

As they walked into the hospital, not sure to where Sandra had been moved, they walked down to the ER reception that was so familiar to them, walking up to one of the senior nurses standing behind the desk.

"Hi Martha." Kamili smiled. "Where can we find-"

Kamili was interrupted as she saw her big sister come walking through the automatic doors, stopping herself as she saw Kamili, knowing she would be told off. Tara looked like she wanted to hurry back from where she came, but there was no time as Kamili reached her within a few steps.

"Hey! I thought you were home resting." Kamili said, frowning as she walked straight up to her sister, pulling her aside. Tara was visibly cold sweating, having obvious trouble taking deep breaths, her eyes very tired.

"Yeah, I was, but I got called in and I can't really say no Kamili. It's just for a few hours, there's some things I need to sort out."

Kamili knew she didn't have to lecture Tara, especially not in front of her coworkers, but the look she gave her was well enough. She sighed loudly before rolling her eyes, changing the subject.

"How is Sandra?"

"Oh she's fine, a bit bored. Martha told me she was here so I checked on her on my way in, Janet is there with her." Tara smiled. "We moved her to another floor, and you can take her home tomorrow as long as nothing changes. We'll do another CT-scan tomorrow morning just to make sure."

"That sounds good." Kelly smiled. "Where can we find her?"

"Oh, she's two floors up. I'm heading that direction anyway; I'll walk you there."

"Great." Kelly smiled, as Tara turned on her heel and led the way down a corridor, away from the ER. She was walking fast, the others having trouble keeping up with her longs legs as she seemed to be walking with her mind far away.

They had not gotten far, just down towards a corridor, when Tara suddenly slowed her pace down for just a second before she swayed dangerously to the side. Before anyone of them had time to react, she was laying on her side, unconscious on the floor.

"Tara!" Kamili gasped as she threw herself down next to her sister, grabbing her shoulder, trying to get a response.

Kelly saw a doctor she knew from earlier mishaps and a young nurse walk further up the corridor and she gave a shout. "Dr Hickins!"

The doctor and the nurse instantly turned around, and upon seeing their chief on the floor, they ran. They were at their side in an instant, Mark kneeling, two fingers instantly at Tara's neck. He turned towards the young nurse and spoke to her in a calm voice.

"Get Martha and a gurney."

The nurse nodded quickly before she hurried back towards the ER.

"She's been feeling bad for a while." Kamili whispered, a cry in her voice as she still sat on her knees next to her sister.

"Yeah, I know, I examined and sent her home yesterday. I didn't know she had come in today; I would've sent her straight home, she's got pneumonia." Mark sighed, a quick glance up to meet Kamili's eyes before turning his focus back to Tara as he rolled her over, holding her head with one hand, moving it to her sweaty forehead, a thumb lifting her eyelids to shine a penlight in her eyes, while noticing the heat radiating from her. Noticing her shallow, strained breathing, he put his stethoscope towards her chest, listening and frowning. It sounded worse than the day before.

"She's didn't want to stop working as she was just promoted, I told her to go home but she didn't listen. I don't think she's been eating well either and she was up being sick several times last night." Kamili rambled on, worry shown all over her face. Kelly squeezed Kamili's shoulder, in the same time as the young nurse returned with a gurney and two other nurses.

"Don't worry Kam, we'll get her better in no time." Mark said, reaching over to give Kamili's upper arm a pat before a joined effort got Tara on the gurney and they quickly whiskered her away, leaving the angels in the hallway, Kamili leaning against Kelly's strong shoulder.

"She'll be okay. She's just ran out of battery." Kelly said, looking towards where they had left.

"I need to..."

"Go to her, it's alright. Madison and I will check on Sandra and then we'll come to you." Kelly said, squeezing Kamili's shoulder as Kamili looked up at her, grateful, before she hurried after her sister.

Dr. Mark Hickins was checking Tara over as he noticed Kamili standing outside the window, and he waved her inside. She gratefully walked in, but stayed out of the way, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, looking at the scene in front of her. Tara's long white coat was on the floor while she was on her back on the gurney, and Kamili moved forward to snatch the coat up, hugging it tightly while moving back against the wall again. They had already popped an oxygen mask over Tara's face as the device on her finger registered dangerously low oxygen levels, and the nurses were all busy checking her blood pressure and inserting needles into Tara's hands as her eyelids suddenly fluttered open. She looked around a bit disorientated before she saw her colleagues faces looking down at her.

"Oh crap." She sighed, closing her eyes for a second as the nurses tried to hold back their giggles at the comment.

"Hi there chief." Dr. Hickins smiled gently, squeezing her shoulder. "Still feeling fine, are we?"

Tara swallowed as she opened her eyes again and was just about to answer as her cough once again betrayed her and she began coughing violently.

"Oh, up we go." Mark said lightly as he and Martha helped her to sit up, Mark holding a strong arm around her front to keep her up, Tara's long fingers clutching at his arm as she needed something to hold onto. Removing the mask Martha held out a steel tray for her to spit in as lumps of green slime came up. She could feel a stethoscope on her back as Mark listened to her lungs as she coughed, and as the cough finally subsided, she was visibly exhausted, eyes closed. Kamili's observed with tears in her eyes as Martha gently wiped away blood from around Tara's mouth while talking soothingly to her before she put the mask back over her face, squeezing Tara's shoulder, in the same time as Mark moved the stethoscope around to listen to her chest as well with a gentle hand on her back to keep her grounded as she swayed with her eyes closed. Not managing to sit by her own strength, she leaned over towards her colleague, leaning her head against his chest, and Kamili could not help but to notice how Mark gently moved his hand to brush it over her neatly braided African hair.

"Easy there honey, we got you, just relax, you're okay." Mark whispered unconsciously in between listening to her chest, Martha smiling with motherly love in her eyes as she watched her two coworkers. As he finished listening to her, he and Martha helped her back down on the gurney.

"Well?" Tara whispered, her voice cracking as she opened her eyes slightly to look at Mark who just shrugged his shoulders.

"You know very well that you can't work with pneumonia, what did you think would happen? Do you need me to explain hypoxemia to you? You're almost down to the levels where you would've normally intubated the patient." He scolded her, while Martha was giving instructions to the younger nurses.

"No." Tara whispered, her voice pleading, barely audible behind the mask.

"Yeah I know you don't want to be intubated and I don't want to do it, but you have to let us help you. We'll give you a chance to recover but if it becomes worse…"

Tara nodded weakly; her eyes wet from tears.

"Well, you know the drill. Martha has hooked you up on antibiotics and an IV with cool saline to get your fever down, you just rest, and we'll move you in a bit. If it gets too difficult to breathe you have to let us know because if it gets any worse, we will have to do something about it. You know this."

Tara nodded again, then looked between Mark and Martha. "Move me?"

"We'll just move you to one of our rooms so we can keep an eye on you. Get you a proper bed to make you comfy, tuck you in and I can read you a goodnight story." Martha smiled devilishly, hanging up the bags on the stand.

"In the meantime I'll get you some lovely cough medicine, and I'll get you an appointment with our friends in x-ray too, have them use a portable one, so you don't have to roll through the hospital with all staff out. Then we'll run every test I find necessary and you will be a perfect little patient who doesn't complain at all. But don't worry, we'll try to keep it under the radar." Mark added.

"Thanks Mark." Tara whispered. She didn't look forward to becoming the talk of the hospital, but she had a feeling she would be anyway.

"If you try to sign yourself out, I will carry you back here, you had your chance of resting at home and you blew it." He took a second to look at her, changing from his stern doctor-voice to the calm and collected friend. "Can I get you anything?"

Tara shook her head as she once again closed her eyes. Mark squeezed her upper arm before turning to Kamili. "Don't worry, she'll be okay. You can sit with her if you want to. Just give us a shout if there's anything. If not, orderlies will move her to another room in a little bit. We'll keep her here down in the ICU, I know she doesn't want the whole hospital to know about this and she'll be a lot more comfortable with Martha and me taking care of her."

"Thank you." Kamili nodded as she moved over to sit next to her sister, taking her hand but being cautious not to touch the IV. Martha pulled a light blanket across Tara, double checking everything before leaving the room, allowing Kamili and Tara some alone time. Kamili placed the white doctor's coat on top on her sister's legs before turning to her sister and as Tara felt someone staring at her she peered her eyes open.

"Sorry sis."

"I told you to rest. Why do you always have to push yourself to the brink?"

"Like you've never done that." Tara wheezed, an eyebrow going up.

Kamili sighed, knowing the two of them were equally bad at listening to their own bodies, and she put her head down next to her sister's, just resting while listening to Tara's strained breaths.

* * *

In the meantime, Madison and Kelly had found their way to Sandra's room. They were happy to see her sitting up, talking to Janet, who were also sitting in the bed, back leaning against the railing at the foot-end, Benjamin sleeping against Sandra's chest.

"Hey." Kelly smiled to both of them before turning to Sandra. "How are you doing?"

"I feel fine. Can I go home yet?"

Kelly couldn't help but to laugh. So young, so restless.

"They're keeping you one more night. We'll come and take you home tomorrow." Kelly grinned as Sandra groaned. "We heard someone smacked you upon your head."

"But it's a hard head." Sandra smiled. She did have a good, ringing headache, but she longed for her own bed. She looked up at Kelly and Madison, before realizing they were missing someone.

"Where's Kamili?"

"Oh." Kelly said, looking towards the door as if Kamili were just about to walk in. "Tara fainted in the hallway. She has been feeling sick for a few days, she probably worked herself over the edge. Kamili stayed behind."

Janet and Sandra both nodded quietly, not liking the sound of that at all.

"What happened Sandra? Kamili told us what she knew but…" Kelly asked, standing quiet as Sandra once again replayed what she remembered.

"I talked to Misha, no one seemed to have seen anything, everyone was so busy getting out of there." Madison said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's easily happened in a fire I guess." Sandra nodded, shrugging her shoulders.

"Are you sure it was a person who knocked you out? I'm thinking about falling debris or maybe-" Kelly asked, but Sandra interrupted her.

"I remember seeing a black figure coming from the dark right before I passed out." Sandra said, making Kelly nod.

"How's your case going otherwise?" Janet asked, changing the subject.

"Slow." Kelly said. "We do have a question."

Sandra looked up at her, nodding for her to continue.

"Do you know if Eva keeps all the drafts that are handed in to her but are not used?"

"Yeah, I think so." Sandra said. "She has a really big office; she might have some of it saved in her drawers."

"That's what we thought." Kelly said. "Then we need to find a way into the office."

"Well I can…"

"Stay here and rest." Kelly smiled, her head tilting. "You are not doing anything."

Sandra rolled her eyes a bit, but settled down into her pillow again, leaning her head against the sleeping baby boy on her chest while Janet playfully kicked her on her shin.

"Enjoy a little rest Sandra."

"Careful, if we rest too much Kelly might have to call you in."

"Oh no. I've only had 8 months off work, I am _definitely not_ ready to go back yet. I have to stay at home with my Benji."

"I can stay home with Benji." Sandra smiled, hugging the little boy.

"You don't have enough milk." Janet grinned. "I'm still the best."

Kelly sighed as she looked between the two, shaking her head a bit, as the door suddenly opened, and Nurse Martha peaked her head into the room.

"Hey ladies. I just dropped by to let you know that Tara is stable, she's got pneumonia which we've set in treatment for. Kamili is still with her downstairs, we're going to keep Tara close to home so to speak, she'll feel better where we can have an eye on her and not some doctors and nurses she doesn't know well. I just wanted you guys to know."

"Thank you so much for coming up here to tell us that." Kelly said, smiling to the nurse who smiled back and closed the door behind her.

* * *

As they left the hospital, Kelly and Madison had checked in with Kamili, allowing her to stay at the hospital with Tara for the rest of the day and they would meet up in the morning. Coming out to the parking lot they stopped by Madison's car.

"Okay, I will drive over to Kris and see how she is doing with the pictures and names. Why don't you just keep going with the notebooks or the diary? Do you feel alright by yourself?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine." Madison smiled. "I'll drive you to the office so you can pick up your car."

Kelly nodded, getting into the jaguar, allowing Madison to give her a ride back to the office, where Kelly switched to her own car and took off. Madison parked, got out of her car and walked up to the office. Walking inside she sat down with the notebooks, reading a bit, flipping through the pages without really finding anything interesting, and not really finding the focus she needed. Her mind was somewhere else, and soon she flipped the notebook shut and walked back out of the office, getting in her car she drove through town, parking on a safe distance from the Prospect, walking up to the building, just taking a stroll around as she planned what to do.

She had luck on her side as she noticed a janitor, a man in his late 50's walking around the area. Walking up to him, she was planning the conversation in her head, rather worried but determined to show her best feet forward. Taking a deep breath before approaching him she decided that here goes nothing.

"Hi, Jake is it?"

The man twirled around, looking at her confused. "No, my name is Lewis."

Madison played along, flipping through the pages of the notebook in her hand, sighing loudly.

"God dammit, the guys at the office can never get it straight. I was told that I should head down to this address and help the janitor, his name was supposed to be Jake Graham. Is there anyone by that name here?"

"No, it's only me here. I would appreciate the help though; my knees are tired and the building tall. But I didn't know someone would be sent here."

"Oh, the firm told me that the dependable man down here needed an apprentice. I'm brand new and I don't know much of the business, but I got a good head, soak information in like a sponge and I'm eager to learn. I do need to make a phone call to see if I'm in the wrong place or not, there has obviously been a mistake somewhere."

"You can call from my office if you'd like."

"Thank you, I would very much appreciate it. I'm Rachel, by the way." Madison said, figuring it might be a bad idea to use her real name and her middle name being the first to come to her.

Lewis gestured for her to follow him inside and he let her in through the doors, guiding her down into the basement where he had his office, opening the door to her before giving her some privacy with the phone call.

Madison, not knowing who to call, decided to just pick up the phone and talk loudly into it, pretending she had someone in the other line, while rummaging around the desk, trying to find any clues or dust of gold that could be useful, not having much luck. Hanging up her pretended phone call she walked back out into the hallway where Lewis was fingering on a broken light bulb.

"Well?" He asked, and she could hear the excitement in his voice.

"They messed up the names, I am supposed to be here with you. You get to teach me everything you know."

"That is fantastic." Lewis said, holding out a hand for Madison to shake, before picking up his own notebook and pen. "I will get you some overalls if you let me know your sizes."

Madison smiled and gave him her measurements, the two of them walking back up towards the ground floor, Lewis bringing her to the reception, introducing her to the receptionist.

"This is Rachel. She needs a card so she can get through the doors."

"Of course. What's your full name and can I borrow your identification please?"

"Well my name is Rachel Brunner, but, I know, stupidly enough, I don't have my ID. My wallet was stolen a few days ago and I haven't had time to get my new card, but I should be able to have that back before the end of the week. I understand of course if you can't let me in without it, it's just that I'm new at the office and I want to make a good impression, you know. They sent me down here and I realized on the way here that-" Madison instantly rambled, hoping that the receptionist might be bored soon and just wave her by, which was exactly what happened.

"Don't worry, that will be alright. I'll make you a card so you can get in."

"Thank you so much, you're such a queen."

"It will take me a little while but if you come by in the morning it will be finished for you."

"Thank you so much." Madison smiled, turning and walking over to Lewis, replaying to him what had happened.

"Well that's good, Reception-Susie can normally sort everything out. When will you start here with me?"

"In the morning was the general idea. This is if you'll have me, of course. It's your call."

"Oh, you are more than welcome."

"Thank you." Madison smiled, holding out a hand to shake Lewis'. "Then I will see you in the morning. When do you usually get in?"

"Around 7."

Madison nodded, smiling to him. "Great, I'll see you then."

Walking out of the building and heading down the street to her car, she opened the beautiful machine and slid into it, her heart beating fast with the adrenaline and she could feel herself beginning to breathe again. She had gotten away with it, it had worked. As a janitor she would have full access to the building, and she should be able to get into Eva's room.

Happy, almost high on the adrenaline-rush she decided to call Kelly and trying a few numbers Kelly finally picked up. Madison told her everything that had happened, but instead of the happy tunes she had expected, Kelly's voice grew dark.

"Wait, you took off by yourself without letting us know?"

Madison realized her mistake instantly. She had promised Kelly that no one were to go off by their own, they would work as a team and always inform each other about their whereabouts so that they could help each other out when needed.

"Well..."

"We do not do that Madison. We work as a team and no one ever goes off by themselves, I told you this. What if something happened to you? We wouldn't even know where to begin looking. How do you know that this janitor is someone you can trust? Maybe he had seen you earlier, recognize you from somewhere else and just kills you in the basement? We would never find out what happened. We need to do thorough research on the people we fool and most of all we need good, waterproof cover stories that won't get us killed."

"But-"

"No, no buts. It's okay to follow a lead but always check in with one of us first so that we know where you're heading. No exceptions. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." Madison sighed, her body stiff with annoyance. "Perfectly."

"Good."

"Can I still go there in the morning?"

"I will call Charlie straight away and have him run a computer search on this man, and we need to make sure the cover story pans out, so you don't get caught. Charlie will have that finished within a few hours. You can head home in the meantime, and I'll call later when I've heard back from Charlie."

"Okay." Madison, pouting. "Did you get the pictures from Kris by the way?"

"Yes, I'll check them tonight and bring them by the office tomorrow."

"Good." Madison said, keeping it short. "I'll talk to you later."

"Absolutely."


	13. Chapter 12 - The big family

**Chapter 12**

_Thursday, August 15__th__, 1985_

* * *

"Good morning."

"Good morning Kelly."

"How's Tara?"

"She'll be okay. I got to stay with her for a long time yesterday, I'll be going by her later when I pick up Sandra around lunch."

"That's good. You take Sandra home and tell her she's off the case."

"She's not going to like that."

"I know, but I think it's too dangerous for her to continue. Her cover is most likely already blown."

"Yeah, I'm on your side, but you know just as well as me that she will be back to work come Monday."

"I don't expect anything else. But you can at least try to convince her to stay home."

"I'll do my best, but I make no promises." Kamili smiled before she had a look at her watch. "Where's Madison?"

"Oh, she took off by herself yesterday to the Prospect, managed to bluff her way to give herself a job with the janitor."

"She took off by herself?"

"Yeah, I scolded her quite a bit, maybe a little too much but it's just out of worry. She called me after all of it to tell me what she did, and I told her to call me before next time. But Charlie checked the janitor out and he's a 63-year-old man, married with two kids, been a janitor most of his life, never even gotten a speeding ticket. She will probably be alright with him, so she's already there now. She made her own little cover story yesterday and I spent last night stuffing rags into the holes of it. She'll try to get into Eva's room and find the drafts."

"Well it would be great, maybe we can find something useful."

"We really could use a good ol' fashion clue right about now. This case has been so very tedious."

"It really feels like we're just stomping on the same patch of grass. I was thinking that I might drop by that witch meeting tonight. At least people won't know I'm a detective, I might be able to snoop around."

"Are they still holding the witch meeting even though the place burned?"

"As far as I heard it didn't burn to the ground so I bet they are still there. Worth to look into at least."

"Okay. Just be very careful, okay?"

"I will, for sure. I don't plan on getting my head bashed in."

"Good. I don't want to save more Angels on the first case."

"I'll do my best. Did you get the pictures from Kris by the way?"

"Yes, wanna go through them together?"

"Sure."

* * *

_I have to tell you the craziest thing. One of the sisters told me that she thought they were right in burning witches during the trials. I thought I heard her wrong at first but as I questioned her, she came off way too serious for my liking. 'Some witches deserved to be burned, they were evil,' she said. I was so taken aback that I didn't answer for several minutes. She didn't elaborate on the subject and none of us wanted to question her, but it got me thinking, of course. _

_We all know Salem was famous for the trials, but long before that, around 1590, there was a certain man called King James VI of Scotland. He was to marry Princess Anne of Denmark, the sister of the Danish King Christian IV. King James sent for his queen to be, but she never made the voyage over to Scotland due to bad weather and stormy waters. After it had happened several times, he took the voyage himself – without a problem. As they were to sail home again, they once again met bad storms and had to seek shelter in Norway. The bard sings that the admiral of the Danish fleet blamed the storms on the wife of a high official whom he had insulted. Witch?_

_Soon thereafter there was a woman called Anna Koldings, who gave them the names of five other women, and they all confessed of using sorcery and raising the storms. I'm fairly sure they were under a fair bit of pressure as they confessed. King James heard about this – and started the North Berwick witch trials. _

_It always has to be someones fault, right? It can't just be nature's fault? It can't just be that the North Sea between Denmark and Scotland is extremely treacherous with its storm surges and strong winds? There are records from year 1228 that over 100,000 people were killed in a storm tide, and in 1362 there were also the Grote Manndrenke that killed another 100,000 people. The list goes on and on, even in 1953 more than 2000 people died. But no, King James, I'm sure it has always been witchcraft behind it. And they all deserved to die. _

_I'm not certain that people who do bad to other people deserve to die. I wouldn't want them roaming the streets of course, but death? I don't know. It's so hard to picture. If I were killed, would I want that person who killed me to die too? What purpose would that serve? It's not like I would care, being dead and all, but maybe it would be a comfort to those around me. _

_And how much evil do you have to do to be burned to death? Or thrown in the water with your hands and feet tied together? If they were not witches, they drowned and the family still lost that woman, but hey, at least she wasn't a witch. _

_Because that would've been horrible, I guess. _

_Alicia Jonas_

* * *

Madison put the magazine back to the table in the small area of the building where she was cleaning, her mind drifting back to the witch meeting as she was curious to which one of the sisters might've been the one Alicia was talking about in the article. Someone who found it defensible to burn witches. Someone who had told Alicia that mere months before Alicia was burned on the stake, as a witch would've been. What must Alicia have been thinking as she stood there, tied to the pole? She must've known what was about to happen.

Madison shook her head, not wanting those kinds of thoughts take over her mind, not wanting to get distracted from the job and career she was about to pursue. Kelly had warned her how fast it could get to your head if you allowed it to. She was to see some insane scenes, people killed in the most insane ways that you couldn't even imagine. Kelly still talked about the crazy Fairytale-case they had worked through, which had started off by a woman being eaten alive by mice. Luckily that wasn't a common occurrence but it still freaked Madison out a bit, not knowing what she would have to witness if she decided that she wanted to do this. She wasn't sure she had the guts to do it, but something told her to keep going, and she was eager to show her best feet forward.

And with those thoughts she decided to pick up her broom again and keep sweeping.

Lewis had gotten her some green overalls and a nametag with the name Rachel this morning, and Madison had pulled them over her regular clothes, tightly braiding her hair and tucking it down to get it out of the way. Lewis had been a sweetheart, showing her around the whole building, given her a set of keys he had laying around, and then sent her off on her own. She had changed light bulbs, unclogged a toilet and was now sweeping up in one of the conference rooms. She felt like she had scored big time as Lewis just seemed happy to get some of the workload off his shoulders, not really feeling the need to look in on her too much. She was allowed to wander the building by herself and she had even been given keys to allow herself to snoop around, but Kelly had warned her several times just how much it could hurt to get your fingers squished in the cookie jar.

She knew she needed to get into Eva's office and check through the drafts, but it seemed like a bad place to start there, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Instead she had been cleaning up, but moving around in the building and making sure she was seen by a lot of people, excusing herself to push past them only to make sure they noticed her, noticing she was moving around and making their workspace a nicer place, to get them to trust her. Soon enough she would be able to walk into their offices without them ever complaining or distrusting her.

Madison smiled to herself. She might just be able to pull this off.

* * *

As Kelly took off to meet Kris for lunch, Kamili headed towards the hospital, walked up to Martha in the reception, the nurse giving her a gentle smile and instantly filled her in.

"Tara's vitals stabilized, and she is responding well to treatment. You can go into her room if you'd like, but just know that we did put her through a bronchoscopy a little while ago, so she is sedated and maybe a bit out of it. Her breathing is still labored and she's still coughing but she's much better. You can go into her room if you'd like."

"Thank you." Kamili smiled, walking in and down a corridor, knowing her way around this area of the hospital by now. Coming up to the room where she knew Tara resided, she pulled the door open and instantly smiled as she saw Tara sitting up in bed but leaning heavily against pillows – with Mark sitting right next to her, facing each other, their fingers intertwined, him with one hand on her cheek. They instantly let go of each other as they realized they had company and Mark got to his feet as fast as he could, but the damage was already done. Kamili was grinning widely, her hands on her hip.

"Well hello there, doctors."

Tara sighed tiredly and lifted a heavy hand to rub her tired face as Mark looked embarrassed, looking down at his feet.

"Not official." Tara whispered; her voice very hoarse.

"Mhmm." Kamili just grinned, not caring about what her sister had just told her as she was rocking on the heels of her shoes.

"Don't call mama."

"Now why would I do that?" Kamili laughed. "I wouldn't be able to answer half of the questions she would throw at me."

Marks pager suddenly beeped. "Thank God!" He exhaled and before the sisters knew it, he was out of the room and Kamili laughed as she walked over to her sister.

"He scares easily." Kamili grinned as she sat down in the bed.

"He knows you got a gun." Tara whispered with a chuckle, before moving her head away as she coughed harshly. Kamili offered her a glass of water as the coughing fit subsided which Tara declined, pointing at her throat.

"Numb throat, no intake yet."

Kamili nodded, her head on its side as she looked at her sister who was resting in the bed, noticing that Mark had taken the mask off her face, but she was still wearing the nasal cannula to help her out a bit. The mask was hanging on the side of the bed though, just in case.

"He's worried about dating the boss. Even though we began dating long before I became his boss." Tara whispered, leaning back into the pillows, trying to catch her breath.

"How did I miss this?"

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it." Tara informed her; speech slow.

"How serious is it?"

"We just enjoy each other's company. We always got along well and it kind of just grew from a good friendship." Tara whispered, choking down a small cough, closing her eyes for a second.

"You okay?" Kamili asked, her hand moving up to her sister's arm.

"Yeah." Tara wheezed. "Give me a few days and I'll be going home."

"Going home and?"

"Take it easy for a few weeks." Tara smiled.

"Good." Kamili smiled, before wincing as another coughing fit came over her sister, Tara not being able to choke this down. Leaning forwards, she coughed violently into some tissue paper that she had next to her and coughed hard for what felt like forever.

As Tara finally leaned back down, absolutely exhausted, her chest was moving rapidly and Kamili could see her glance towards the mask on the side of the bed, which was well enough of a signal for Kamili to grab it and hold it over her sisters mouth and nose, Tara closing her eyes as she inhaled. Kamili sat in the bed next to Tara and stayed still for several minutes, holding the mask with one hand and the other one brushing Tara's hair.

Kamili moved the mask as Tara started swatting at it and put it in the bed next to her, moving to take the tissue paper from Tara, she noticed the blood on it. Holding it up to her sister to see, Tara shook her head.

"Don't worry, it's just from my throat, it's a bit beaten from all the coughing and the bronchoscopy didn't help. There's nothing else going on, I promise, Mark has run all necessary tests."

"Okay." Kamili smiled, throwing it away before coming back to the bed, sitting down in it. "I talked to mama yesterday. She had tried to call you several times, so I told her you were sick, but I did not tell her how irresponsible you were. I also told her not to worry and that you would call whenever you could manage it."

"Oh she'll lecture me." Tara whispered weakly.

"Yup, and you deserve it." Kamili said, nudging Tara's arm.

"Yeah, I know." Tara sighed. "I'll tell her the truth, I promise."

"Good. You know it will come back and bite you later otherwise."

"Yeah." Tara smiled before changing the subject. "How's Sandra?"

"My plan is to take her home after visiting you, as long as she's allowed to go home of course."

"I'm sure she's fine." Tara said, moving her head slightly to get a better angle on the pillow, Kamili getting to her feet to help her get comfortable. Tara sunk down, eyes closed for a moment, a small cough escaping again but calmed down quickly.

"Good. I guess Mark is going to keep you here for a while?" Kamili asked, pulling the duvet up a bit to make sure her sister was comfortable.

"A few days at least." Tara said quietly and Kamili observed her for a moment, observing as her sister took a few deep breaths, body becoming relaxed as she was about to drift off to sleep.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm alright." Tara said, her eyes cracking open, smiling slightly to her sister. Kamili smiled back before leaning forward to give her a hug.

"Okay. Just let me know otherwise, okay? I'll be by tomorrow. You rest."

"Ay-ay chief." Tara whispered with a grin, closing her eyes again and drifting off as Kamili smiled and left the room.

* * *

After leaving Tara's room Kamili moved about in the hospital, going to the floor where Sandra was and pulled open the door to Sandra's room, halting a bit as she saw the woman in her 60's standing next to the bed. Twirling around, Kamili instantly met her gentle face, the warm, green eyes and the grey hair circling the face in a short bob.

"Hi Mary! I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here, I can wait out-"

"Don't worry Kamili, we're just wrapping up, come on in."

Kamili, a bit embarrassed, walked up to the bed, putting Sandra's bag down by the foot of the bed, smiling to her friend who was sitting up in the bed.

"All good?"

"I'm alright, ready to go home."

Kamili smiled, sitting down in the bed by Sandra's feet. "They said they would do a CT-scan this morning?"

"I've already did it, they are just waiting for the plates, then I'm good to go."

"As long as it's alright."

"Obviously." Sandra smiled, then turned to Mary who gave her shoulder a pat.

"I'll take off. I'll see you next week, just call me if you need me."

"Thanks Mary." Sandra smiled, Kamili giving Mary a wide smile as well before she left the room, leaving the two friends alone. Kamili sat down in the bed, facing Sandra.

"I'm sorry for interrupting. I thought she was here yesterday."

"Don't worry about it. We were finished. And she was here yesterday, we didn't actually have an appointment today, she just dropped by to make sure I was alright."

"And are you?"

"I feel fine, a bit dizzy maybe but headache is almost gone."

"Good." Kamili smiled, then tilting her head. "And all else is okay too? No bad feelings or likewise?"

Sandra smiled gently, loving that her friend cared enough to ask. "No, Kamili, I feel okay. There might've been some anxiety there, I did have a nightmare, but she got me straight. I'm all good."

"That makes me glad." Kamili smiled. "We like it when you smile."

Sandra felt her cheeks turn red as she smiled widely to Kamili. "I don't plan on stopping."

"Good. But please don't fear talking to me if you ever feel like stopping."

"I promise I'll talk to you."

There was a knock on the door, and a second later it swung open, Mark walking in with a file in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Hi there Kam." He said, cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Hi Mark." Kamili grinned. "Don't worry, I'll be quiet."

"About what?" Sandra immediately asked, Kamili grinning even wider.

"So much for keeping quiet." Mark chuckled, shaking his head.

"Oh, there's no secrets between Angels, you should know that rule." Kamili smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"What's going on?" Sandra asked and Kamili turned to Mark, who rolled his eyes but smiled and nodded.

"Mark and Tara are dating."

"What?" Sandra exclaimed happily, looking up to Mark who shrugged his shoulders, nodding. "Oh, I love it! You two are so great together."

"Thanks." Mark smiled. "She makes me happy."

"And you make her happy." Kamili said, her grin turning to a gentle smiled, before nodding towards the file in his hand. "Did you get the results back?"

"Yeah, I got the plates from the CT-scan back, they don't show anything."

Kamili didn't even try to hide her laugh, but she did place a hand over her mouth as the laugh had been a lot louder than she had intended it to be. Mark raised an eyebrow to her, Kamili looking between him and Sandra before returning to Mark.

"I always knew there was nothing in there but it's nice to have it confirmed."

"Oi!"

Kamili jumped out of the bed as Sandra kicked her hard on the thigh.

Mark let out a hearty laugh before turning to Sandra. "You know what I mean."

"Of course I do Mark. Never mind Kamili, she's just being a little _drit_." Sandra said, the last word, in Norwegian, coming out through clenched teeth while rolling the r, but it was accompanied by a cheeky smile. Kamili grinned widely, not knowing what the word meant but it was one Sandra frequently used around her – so it was probably nothing nice.

"Well with the scans clear I feel okay to discharge you. A nurse will be in shortly with the papers. Just take it easy for a few days, try not to exaggerate yourself. You know the usual, you might experience some headache and dizziness and if it hasn't passed in a few days just keep in touch. I would normally prescribe some painkillers but..."

"I'm good Mark, I don't want it." Sandra said quickly, eyes stern. Kamili reached over and gently brushed her arm, giving her support, her grin turned to a gentle smile.

Mark smiled gently as well, having been on the nightshift the night Sandra came in 7 months ago he knew what problems she had experienced. He gave Kamili a nod before leaving the room. Kamili grabbed the bag of clothes that she had brought.

"Do you need help getting dressed?"

"I think I'm alright, but you can help me to the bathroom." Sandra said, moving around so her feet was dangling over the edge of the bed. Taking a breath, she took Kamili's outstretched hand and allowed her friend to guide her to the bathroom, Sandra taking the bag and moved into the room.

"No locking doors." Kamili said, smiling gently as she waited outside.

Sandra emerged from the bathroom just as Nurse Martha came into the room, holding a clipboard with papers for Sandra to sign. All done, Kamili pointed to the wheelchair, making Sandra groan a bit.

"Do I have to? I can walk."

"Just humor me, will you? You know how much I love pushing you around." Kamili grinned, taking Sandra's hand to guide her to the chair, Sandra giggling as she sat down, allowing Kamili to take her outside to the awaiting car. Kamili wrapped an arm around Sandra's waist and guided her into her car, went to leave the chair, before getting herself into the driver's seat and pulled out from the parking lot.

"So, update me. Where are you on the case?"

"Kelly said you're off it."

"Don't be ridiculous. We all know I will be on the case first thing in the morning. I will just be more attentive to my surroundings."

Kamili smiled, she knew Sandra didn't want to get off the case, but she knew Kelly wouldn't be happy. Leaning into the car seat of her mustang, she told Sandra everything that had been going on during the last 48 hours and what the future plans were, none of it much to hang in the tree unfortunately.

* * *

"You cannot be serious?"

"Of course I am. I have to be able to do my job, and you know that includes fieldwork, I can't hide away at home all the time."

"But you don't have to push yourself to the brink just to prove yourself to the others either. You're willing to go to the place where Madison might've been poisoned, and Sandra got her head bashed in? That place is dangerous, you can't go there."

"Don't you dare tell me what I can or cannot do."

"Kam, stop that."

Kamili dropped the makeup brush to the sink and twirled towards her husband, meeting his eyes, full of worry and concern. She sighed, held up her hands in apology while taking a deep breath, getting to her feet, gravity making the black dress fall towards the floor as she rose. Walking up to Morgan she smiled gently and wrapped her arms around him, Morgan hugging her back, burying his nose in her curls.

"I'm scared." He whispered as she pressed her head against his shoulder. "I'm scared something will happen to you. You know just as well as me that you're not doing too well, and I'm scared that something will happen when you're all alone."

"I won't be alone."

"Well, with strangers, who might have bad intentions."

"I won't be with just strangers either." Kamili said, backing up from her husband and looking up at him with a wide smile. "If you would've let me finish talking, I would've told you that I'm bringing Janet. That girl needs to get out more."

"How did you convince her to go with you?"

"Told her it was just for a few hours and that I didn't feel safe going alone. It wasn't that difficult; I do think she secretly miss the danger. But the people there have no reason to have bad intentions towards us. We are just women curious in the occult. They knew Sandra and Madison were detectives already the first time they walked through the door. We won't go there as detectives."

"Okay. But promise me that you'll be careful."

"Of course we'll be careful." Kamili smiled, leaning up to give Morgan a kiss before taking a step back. He grinned as he looked her over, up and down. She had spent the evening undoing the braids, letting the whole hair out into a wild afro, then carefully braiding a gemstone hairband into it. She was wearing a black, long and slick dress that showed off her hourglass curves perfectly, a high turtleneck and long sleeves, and accompanied it all with high heels.

"You look fantastic."

"Thanks. I don't know how to dress like a witch."

"I don't know how they dress either, but at least you have me under your spell."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say something that cheesy." Kamili laughed, leaning forward to kiss him before turning to look at herself in the mirror. "Does it really look good? I'm can't really make up my mind. It's so tight, it almost gives me a baby bump."

"If you think that dress makes you look fat, you are wrong. You are not nor do you look fat. Every woman gets a baby bump in a dress like that, even you with your flat tummy."

"Okay then. Thanks babe. I need to put my face on completely before I'll go and pick up Janet. Is it okay to borrow the jeep?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I think it will be a bit better cover than to show up in a mustang or Janet's Porsche."

"I think you're right." Morgan grinned. "I'll go and help Yasmin with her homework. Say bye before you take off."

"Of course." Kamili smiled, turning back to the mirror as Morgan left the room.

* * *

"What's on your mind?"

Kelly jumped slightly and twirled her head sideways upon hearing a voice right next to her and twisted her head just in the same moment as Kris sat down next to her in the couch.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to spook you." Kris smiled, a gentle hand on Kelly's shoulder. "You seemed to be far off in the distance."

"I was, I was thinking about Kamili and Janet, they are going to that witch meeting this evening and I am just a bit worried. There has been so much trouble over there and I don't want more angels to end up in the hospital."

"They'll be fine. There can't be accidents every time there's a meeting, that would put them out of business in a heartbeat."

"I know." Kelly smiled. "I'm sure I'm just being a bit overprotective."

"Easily done in this business. I did check around a little at work and I have some information that might be interesting. I'm not sure if it's anything really, but I got a hunch."

"What do you got?"

"Not here." Kris smiled. "I'll pop by the office tomorrow morning."

Kelly smiled, looking forward in the direction to where Kris had nodded. In front of the two, on the floor in front of the TV, where Peggy sleeping on her back, with Sarah, Jessica, Jacob and Annie all resting towards her, watching the Gummi Bears. Kelly smiled happily at their little family, just as Jill walked into the living room. Jill smiled as she popped down next to Kelly in the couch, leaning her head against Kelly's shoulder for a second before Annie rolled off Peggy and got onto her unsteady legs, waddling towards her mother. Jill smiled gently as she bent and picked the girl up, pulling her into her lap and she snuggled down next to her mother.

"How are you Jill, you look good." Kelly stated as she observed her friend.

"I'm alright actually, having a good day. Feels like the first good day I've had in ages. How is everything going with the two of you?" Jill asked, her nose towards Annie's head as she looked up at Kelly and Kris. "You look so serious."

"Kam and Janet are heading to the witch meeting tonight." Kelly said. "There has been such mess there so I'm just a bit worried."

"What are they going to do?"

"Snoop around." Kelly smiled.

"I miss the old snooping around days." Jill smiled. "We had a lot of fun."

"We did. The good old days." Kelly grinned. "I still remember our first cases working for Charlie."

"Do you remember that jewel heist we had to clear up and you got locked into the vault?"

"How could I forget that." Kelly giggled.

"How did you get locked into the vault?" Kris asked, looking up at Kelly while moving around a bit in the couch, leaning back and putting her feet up into Kelly's lap. Kelly gently massaged her feet and ankles while she grinned.

"You should ask your sister."

Kris looked over to Jill with an eyebrow up and Jill smiled, leaning back as well, allowing Annie to rest against her chest.

"There is a possibility that Sabrina and I thought we had caught the thief and decided to lock him in. It took us a good ten minutes before we realized that Kelly was missing."

"You're kidding."

"Unfortunately not. Kelly was right upset when we let her out."

"It was dark in there and you both know how much I just love dark, narrow spaces."

"I said I was sorry."

"You panicked?" Kris asked carefully, Kelly looking over to her and nodding.

"Yup. It was tiny and pitch black, and anxiety got the best of me. By the time Jill and Sabrina had gotten me out I was hysterical."

"It was scary. But you did get a lot better with tiny spaces after that."

"Yeah, Charlie sent me through some therapy, not wanting an angel with claustrophobia, I guess. I'm still not too fond of tiny spaces but at least now I know how to handle them."

"You've done great after that. You did show off your final exam when you got stuck in the airplane bathroom just weeks later."

Kelly laughed, shaking her head. They had certainly had some moments to remember. The three of them sat quiet for a moment before Jill spoke again.

"Anyone of you talked to Sabrina lately?"

"It's been a few months." Kelly confessed. "We did talk quite a bit after the prison case, life is rolling onwards so fast. She did mention that she had been talking to Anton about doing an east coast trip, maybe towards the spring."

"That would be great, I miss her like crazy. It's crazy to think it's been more than ten years since we got together."

"Back then it was just us. The three of us and Sabrina. Now there's a full circus here and it's getting even worse. I'm still certain I'm only supposed to have two kids. How did I get 5? And two more on the way that I presume will move in here as well?" Kelly laughed, leaning over Kris' legs to pull Jacob and Jessica into the couch, Sarah crawling up as well. Jessica crawled along Kris' legs over to her stomach, laying down in top of her and Jacob settled on top of Kris' feet, still resting in Kelly's lap, and Sarah squished down between Kelly and Jill. Back on the floor was Peggy, still happily snoring away.

"Not sure where we'll fit in two more." Kris giggled before wincing as Jacob bounced a bit on her sore feet, Kelly noticing this moved him a bit, allowing Kris to move around and sit back up instead.

"How are the legs doing Kris?" Jill asked, looking over towards her sister.

"They're okay, just get sore after a long day of walking. Don't really have much trouble with then anymore as long as I wear okay shoes."

"That's good at least." Jill smiled.

"It's all thanks to you two, had you guys not taken care of me as you did after that blast, I don't think I would've gotten back on track."

"That's what family is for." Kelly smiled.

"Yeah. Not only to sort out your head but your body needed help too."

"It sure did." Kris smiled, thinking back to the dazed months following the explosion. She hadn't cared at all about anything, not finding anything to live for if she didn't have her husband. Her legs had been badly injured, again, and Jill and Kelly had taken turns to help her out. Not only had they made sure she ate, drank and did all other things she had to do to keep living, but they also pushed and pulled her legs through endless hours of physical therapy, making sure she was able to walk again once her heart was patched back together. Not only had they saved her from insanity's dark space, they had also made sure she could walk out of there on her own legs.

She still missed Tommy like crazy but found him in her children and she spent the evenings telling them stories about their father, making sure they wouldn't forget him. She still woke up in the middle of the night, reaching over in the bed expecting him to be there, but he never was. It had been a roller coaster ride and it wasn't finished yet, but at least she felt like she had the belt on now and it had evened out a little bit. She still had friends and family, and she had children that needed her. She knew this much, and she was happy to still be alive. Smiling to herself, she wrapped her arms around Jessica and pulled her backwards into the couch, Kelly and Jill smiling at the two of them as Jessica giggled happily.

"Mommy stop!" Jessica laughed as Kris tickled her, the child twisting and turning into the couch, Kelly having to hold Jacob away from her as he tried to catch his sister's hair. Kris stopped dead, whereupon Jessica immediately turned to her, frowning. "Don't stop!"

The adults laughed happily as Kris continued to tickle Jessica until she rolled out of the couch, happily giggling, running over to throw herself right across Peggy who jumped from her sleep. Upon noticing who it was, she instantly grabbed the little girl around her waist and pulled her tight, pretending to go back to sleep with Jessica laughing, wriggling and twisting.

Jacob was clapping his hands, bouncing in Kelly's lap, Annie cuddling close to her mother but watching the chaos take place and Sarah giggled happily as she pulled her mother's sweater a bit.

"What is it Sarah?"

"I really like our big family."

"I do too sweetheart, I do too."


	14. Chapter 13 - Suspects

**Chapter 13**

_Friday, August 16__th__, 1985_

* * *

"Good morning Angels. How did it go yesterday?" Charlie's voice echoed through the speakers.

"It was rather slow." Kamili said, shrugging her shoulders as she poured coffee into her cup. "I thought it would be more of a party, but people were just sitting around talking."

"So they actually had the meeting even though the building burned?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, they have been given clearance to enter the building again, some of the walls are still standing but the roof is gone. From what I could tell, they just put lights up and proceeded as usual." Kamili said. "There was a collection box to pay for the damages."

"Did you catch any good conversations?" Sandra asked, sitting in the couch with her feet up underneath herself.

"Well there was a lot of good conversations but not much to keep the case moving forward." Janet smiled, having joined in on this morning's get-together to talk about last night, sitting in the couch next to Sandra. "I did talk about children with a lot of people, I was rather surprised at just how many there had kids. The women there seem to be such independent people which makes it's hard to picture them as mothers, but I guess that's just my prejudices talking."

"I was talking to quite a bit of people about Alicia's columns, telling them that I had gotten the interest and heard about the meetings by reading the columns. A lot of people seemed very open about them but there were a bunch that were immediately put off, telling me how annoying it had been that she would write about their conversations, the talk inside those walls were not meant for the public. They seemed really upset with it. Annabelle told me that she had even gotten a visit from the police after Alicia had written about her farm and how they sometimes ate stuff and did drugs to free themselves. Alicia never mentioned Annabelle's name but the police must've put two and two together at some point. Annabelle said that they hadn't found anything, and she had been let off the hook. But she was very upset." Kamili said. "I also have a feeling that she has quite a bit on that farm that she's not supposed to have, even if the police didn't find it."

"Was she upset enough to kill?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know." Kamili answered, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well I did some snooping around on my own." Kris said, sitting in the couch opposite Sandra and Janet, opening her briefcase and pulling out some files. "Kelly mentioned the old articles that you found in the safety deposit box, along with the black and white photos, so I dug a bit more in it. I looked amongst the cold cases and found four cases with missing woman, all four of them disappeared without a lead, and all four said to be invested in the occult community. Kelly told me she already knew about two of them."

"Alicia was burned to a crisp, but they did find enough remains to do an identification. The other victims might've been burned as well but the remains scattered by the wind or wild animals before found." Kamili said, thinking out loud.

"Now, if Alicia was digging in this story and coming too close to the truth – " Kris continued, looking around amongst the women in the room.

"That's a motive." Janet said, the others all agreeing with her.

"That also means, to find Alicia's killer, we need to get close to the truth about those four women." Kelly added, looking up to her angels.

"I have been trying to find a connection of the four women, except the fact that they were invested in the same lifestyle choice. I don't think being a witch is enough for you to get killed, maybe in 1692 Salem but not in Washington D.C and in this day and age. But I have been pulling my hair out trying to find a red thread amongst them. I thought at first that they were all writers or journalists, but no, one of them were while the other three had different professions. They all came from different upbringings, the lived at different areas of Washington and they didn't seem to know each other."

"We will definitely have to dig into this." Kelly said, nodding. "It sounds like we have a serial killer on the lose."

"I don't have any kind of evidence that it's the same person performing all the murders, I don't even have evidence to show that four women are dead. I talked to my supervisor, but he doesn't want to take the case unless I can prove that there is in fact a serial killer out there and not just women who has disappeared."

"We'll get on this." Kelly nodded. "Kam and I can look into that; we'll take two women each and see what we come up with. We have to be able to find a connection."

"I'll keep digging, and I also talked to Agent Donner at the CIA." Kris said, turning to Kamili. "He will look into those four as well. If there are any clues to find, we will find them together."

"Great Kris, thank you so much for helping out. This could be a great step forward and God knows we need it. I do have a feeling that this is definitely the right path to thread though, there has to be something about those women." Kamili said, nodding along.

"Then maybe that should be my next storyline for the Prospect. Maybe not a top priority as that might seem suspicious but I could absolutely talk a bit loudly about it, leave notes in the open and stuff like that. If someone at the Prospect is watching me, they'll see it." Sandra said.

"You're placing yourself as bait." Charlie stated.

"Yeah. Someone might have to if we're to catch the killer."

"I don't like it." Kamili said straight away. "There should be an easier way to find the killer than to place yourself as bait, especially since someone is probably already watching you considering you had your head bashed in."

"Well, let me know if you can figure out another way." Sandra smiled, looking at her watch. "I really should be heading that direction. I'll see if I can check in on Madison, maybe lure Eva out of her office to give Madison a chance to sneak in there and have a look around."

"You need to be ridiculously careful. Know that you are watched." Janet said, moving Benjamin from the buggy up on her shoulder while keeping eye contact with Sandra.

"I know. I will keep my eyes open to see if someone is surprised to have me back or if they feel awkward around me."

"Call us immediately if you feel that you need help." Kamili said, looking at Sandra with seriousness in her eyes.

"Of course. My plan is to just be there until lunch, drop some things off before the deadline and then take the remainder of the day off to rest."

"That sounds good." Kelly smiled. "Do you just wanna run through the list of suspects before you take off?"

"Sure." Sandra nodded, bringing up a notebook from her purse as Kelly grabbed papers, rummaging around a bit with all the files and folders in front of her.

"Who do we got?" Kamili asked, bringing up her notebook as well.

"Well, from the first witch meeting we have Joanna, Josie and Annabelle, those three were sitting next to Madison that evening she was drugged."

"Did you ever get the test results from that evening? You did drop by the hospital in the morning to leave samples, right?" Kamili asked, looking over to Kelly.

"We did." Kelly said. "It did show traces of some drug that I can't recall the name of, which could cause nausea and vomiting, so at least we know that she was definitely drugged."

"So one of those three people are a very likely candidate."

"Unless someone else put something in the lemonade. There is a possibility that more people got sick, but we just don't know about it." Sandra said, shrugging her shoulders. "I did drink the lemonade as well but that doesn't mean that other pitchers weren't bad."

"What do we know about that trio?" Kelly asked, turning to Kris.

"Well, when it comes to Annabelle she appears to be a hard-working woman, spending all her time on her farm basically, and except the rumors of her growing illegal things I can't find anything on her. We haven't been able to find much about Josie, at all actually. We're not even sure of her real name, but that might not mean anything. Josie is probably short for something; we just need to find out her full name."

"That will be my mission on the next meeting." Kamili nodded to Kris, taking notes.

"Good. Joanna is nothing special on paper, no record, no bad history. She's a history teacher and has been for many years."

"She is the one though who made Madison a bit uneasy by saying that Alicia was dead before Madison said so. The fact that she's dead and how she died is not something that's been revealed in the press, it's not supposed to be common knowledge." Kelly said, remembering what Madison had told her earlier.

"So one of them is the most likely suspect?" Sandra asked, looking around for confirmation.

"Or all three of them." Kris added, shrugging her shoulders, making the others look up at her. "I mean, Alicia was a woman, but she was rather tall and strong built. All three of these women are average height. It would take quite a bit of strength to drag Alicia up on that platform to set her on fire. It's just a theory, but there might be more than one of them."

"That's true." Kamili said, leaning back in the couch. "It could also mean that one of them is the unsub and her friend doesn't even go to the witch meetings."

"No, the partner could be from the Prospect. Someone over there read Alicia's work and told one of the witches." Sandra said, her stomach turning a bit.

"Then, what suspects do we have over there?" Kelly asked, turning to Sandra.

"Well we have Eva, the editor-in-chief. I'm assuming now, which might prove to be wrong later, that someone got upset about something that Alicia wrote. Maybe she was doing an article about the missing women. But no matter what she wrote, someone must've read it. Eva gets all the material, reads and organize it, but I do believe that she also leaves all the material to Martin Howard, the president of the magazine. I'm going to hand in some material when I go there today and I will ask Eva who reads it before it's published, but I do believe Martin reads it."

"We have profiled this to be a female unsub, but it's absolutely not impossible that there's a man mixed in there as well. That would make up for the strength it takes to move a body like that." Kelly said, nodding.

"Well, I think those are the ones to watch, but there might be someone else there as well who just hasn't come forwards yet. I will go down there and have a peek around, see if I can find Madison and somehow get her into Eva's office to look for those old drafts."

"Be careful Angel."

"Always Charlie." Sandra smiled towards the speaker box before looking up to Kelly at the desk. "I'll meet you guys for lunch. Rory's?"

"Sure." They all agreed.

Sandra put her shoes back on, got to her feet and walked around the couch, stopping for a second to give little Benjamin a kiss on the head before walking outside. Halfway down the stair she heard rapid footsteps behind her and turning around she saw Kamili catching up with her. She stopped, looking up at her friend. Kamili was wearing her trusty old combat boots, jeans and a hoodie, and her unbraided afro wrapped into a shawl. Now she caught up with Sandra, walking down a few steps, stopping with Sandra in the stair.

"Did I forget something?"

"No, I… I just want to make sure that you're alright."

"I told you guys that I'm fine."

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just… I just want to make sure. Both physically and psychically."

Sandra sighed, leaning back against the wall, meeting Kamili's eyes.

"I'm okay. Physically I'm tired and the head is still a bit sore." Sandra answered, a hand moving up to the back of her head. "Still a bit lightheaded on and off, body's sore in general. But not too bad, I feel fine to be up a couple of hours. I got the whole weekend to rest."

Kamili nodded, allowing Sandra to keep going.

"Psychically I'm alright as well. I have talked a lot to Mary and sure, I'm a bit uneasy but I'm not scared. I want to do this. I want this person caught. At the moment I am angrier and more determined than sad, angry with myself for getting hit but also with the person thinking they will get away with this. We need to get this person caught."

"We will get this person caught. Just… Just be careful, will you?"

"I will. Don't worry Kammy, I'll be fine. I'll see you for lunch."

"Okay. Are you okay driving?"

"No, not really, I'll take a cab." Sandra smiled. "I took one here this morning. See, I know my limits."

Kamili smiled, reaching over to brush Sandra's upper arm before heading upstairs again, Sandra going the other direction.

* * *

"Rosie!"

Sandra turned around as she was met by Martin and Eva who was walking down the hallway, Martin's assistant Ellen with her nose in a book behind them.

"Hi." She smiled, greeting them all.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Martin immediately asked, hurrying up as he saw her.

"I- how much did you hear?"

"Well your friend called and said that you had been in a car crash and hurt your head." Eva said, coming up close, her eyes moving over Sandra's head, looking for signs of injury.

"Yeah." Sandra said, wondering if her friend was Kelly or Kamili, moving her hand to rub the back of her head as if to underline Eva's words. "I'm fine, it was just clumsy of me. A small concussion but I'll rest during the weekend and will be back on track come Monday."

"Are you sure you're healthy enough to be here today?" Martin asked, forehead in deep frown.

"No, not really. But today is the 16th and I have some written stuff that I wanted to hand in before the deadline passed."

Eva smiled widely. "Why don't you join me at my office, and we can have a look at it together?"

"Happily. I just hope I wasn't interrupting the two of you?"

"No, absolutely not. Come on."

"I'll talk to you later. It's good to see you back on your feet." Martin smiled to the two of them before heading off into another direction.

Sandra and Eva walked towards Eva's office, Eva chitchatting on about something that had happened to her last night. Sandra was pretending to pay attention, but she was looking around without being too obvious about it, looking in through windows to the different offices, looking for someone who might have a bit of a taken back reaction to seeing her.

Upon seeing Madison cleaning up in the hallway, Sandra turned to Eva.

"By the way, when we get to your office, I would like to show you the columns I written."

"Oh, have you had time to write some of those?"

"Yeah, I focused on that a little bit, curious to see if that would be of interest to you."

As Sandra and Eva walked through the hallway, Sandra caught Madison's eyes, giving her a short smile and polite nod. Madison begun packing up, ready to follow the two without being too close. Eva and Sandra walked into the office, Sandra leaving the door open behind her on purpose, smiling within as Eva didn't mention it. Eva sat down behind her desk and Sandra on the other side of it, Sandra opening up her purse, pulling up a pile of paper which she handed over to Eva, before sitting back while Eva started rummaging through the papers. Sandra gave her a couple of minutes to read before she begun looking around in the office.

"Do you mind if I take a cup of coffee?" Sandra asked, pointing her thumb over her shoulder towards the coffee maker.

"Of course not, go ahead." Eva smiled before burying her nose in the papers again, Sandra getting to her feet and making herself a cup of coffee while looking out into the hallway. Madison was close by, peeking into the room but staying out for now. Sandra smiled, turning to the coffee maker again, pouring herself a cup of coffee, sipping it while walking around in the office. Finding a door slightly ajar, she peeked in a bit, seeing shelves with binders.

"That's where I keep stuff that hasn't made it to the paper yet. Red binders for stuff that won't be used, yellow for the ones that need to be rewritten or edited, green for those ready to go but hasn't fit in just yet."

"I see. That's very organized of you."

"I like it that way, easier to find what you're looking for." Eva grinned.

"Can I have a look?" Sandra asked, tilting her head and flashing a wide smile.

"Sure." Eva said, her nose back into the papers as Sandra walked inside, turning the light on, having a small peek around. Making sure she was out of sight of Eva, she got up onto a chair and unscrewed the lightbulb just enough for it to go out and the room to turn pitch black.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, hurrying out of the room.

"What happened?" Eva said, looking up as Sandra entered back into the office.

"The light went out. I think the bulb broke."

"Oh no." Eva sighed loudly, putting the paper down for a second.

"The janitor is just outside. I'll talk to her, she can probably fix it in a heartbeat."

"Thanks." Eva smiled, picking the papers back up again, focused on her reading.

Sandra walked out into the hallway, walking up to Madison with a smile on her face.

"Hey, excuse me?" Sandra smiled gently, Madison turning to her.

"Hey." Madison smiled, playing along. "What's up?"

Scared of being overheard, and scared of giving Madison's cover away, Sandra decided to just play the part.

"There's a broken lightbulb in the office, in the room with all the binders. Do you think you can fix it?" Sandra smiled, one hand holding the coffee cup and the other hand discreetly gesturing how she had unscrewed the bulb.

"Of course, right behind you." Madison smiled, walking over to her bag and picking up a box with new light bulbs in it, putting her ladder onto her shoulder before following Sandra into the office, Sandra showing her in. Madison nodded to Eva who barely made an effort to look up from the papers, Sandra showing Madison the room with the binders, walking all the way into it, pretending to show her where the light bulb was in the dark room.

"Red binders are no go, yellow for editing and green are ready to go. They seem to be stacked alphabetically so I assume they are sorted after the person who's written them." Sandra whispered. "I'll try to get Eva out of here so you can get some time to rummage around. I'll make sure to forget something in here, so I have to come with her back, I'll try to be loud on my way in. Lunch at Rory's."

Madison nodded, taking a deep breath. Sandra gave her a reassuring pat on the arm before walking out of the room, back to where Eva was reading, putting down one of the papers just as Sandra walked into the room. Eva smiled, nodding as she put it down.

"These are good."

Sandra lit up, a wide smile on her face.

"Really?"

"Yeah. They are really well written. Interesting, capturing and well worded. I'll happily include one of these in the upcoming paper."

"Woah, that makes me happy."

"Me too. It's always difficult with new people so it's nice when one is surprised." Eva smiled.

Sandra smiled happily back to her. "Oh, there's one more thing I would like you to have a look at. It's not finished yet, but I would love to have your input on it, to see if I'm heading down the right path with it."

"Sure." Eva said, looking up, ready to take it from her.

Sandra rummaged a bit through her purse before sighing loudly. "Oh, it's probably at my desk still."

"Let's go get it." Eva smiled. "We can step by Martin's office as well to let him have a look at these columns. I might be the person pulling the strings and making the final decisions, but I know he likes to the read the stories before they are published to have a say as well as it's his name on the line in case something happens."

"That's fine by me." Sandra smiled, before the two of them left the office, Sandra leaving her purse in the chair before the two of them walked down the hallway to pick up the paper that Sandra had dropped by her desk earlier, before meeting Eva and Martin.

Rummaging a little at her desk, trying to use up more time, she soon enough pulled out the sheet of paper that she had begun writing last night. Handing it over to Eva, Eva sat down at Sandra's chair and begun reading it through, giving her pointers and ideas on how to proceed.

* * *

"Hey."

The whole table looked up and smiled, greeting Madison as she sat down by the table where Sandra, Kamili and Kelly were already sitting.

"How did it go?" Sandra smiled. "I noticed you were already out of the office when we returned, well done."

"I had a good rummage around at all the binders where her work should've been located, all of it very neatly organized so it was fast work. And you guys took your time, I saw you from the conference room as you walked back."

"Did you find anything?" Kamili asked, looking between her two coworkers.

"No, nothing."

"That's a shame." Sandra said, leaning back in the seat of the booth.

"That's _suspicious_." Kelly said, frowning as she looked up at Madison. "You did find other stories, articles et cetera?"

"Yes, loads of them, all neatly organized as said. I couldn't find anything under Alicia's name, and I did have a good look around in the other binders as well to see if it had been misplaced but I couldn't find anything."

"That sounds like someone disposed of it. There should be some at least. Not even one sounds very suspicious to me."

"I agree." Kamili said, nodding towards Kelly as their food was brought in. "It certainly sounds like someone didn't want it found, whatever it was."

"Eva reads all of it, and so does Martin. So at the moment I guess they are on top of the list of suspects."

"But what do they have to do with the witches?" Madison asked, the others remembering that she had not been in the office during the morning, and they quickly filled her in on their theory about partners and the four missing women.

"I did have time to write some notes about the four dead women, purposely leaving them on my desk. We'll see if something takes off, then we'll know the murderer hangs out at the Prospect. But just because Eva and Martin read it, doesn't mean they are the only ones to do so. I have left things out on purpose, I'm sure Alicia sometimes left notes out as well. She could've discussed the cases with anyone there and there are plenty of people sitting by those open desks. I do think we need to keep an eye on Eva and Martin, but I don't think they are the only ones to look out for at the Prospect. We need to keep our eyes open." Sandra said, looking over to Madison.

"Does that mean I'll keep staying there, having a peek around?" Madison asked, turning to Kelly.

"Yes, I do believe that's the best way to proceed." Kelly nodded.

"I think that would be great Mads." Sandra agreed. "If nothing else, I do feel safer knowing I have someone who's watching my back."

Madison nodded. "I can walk into the rooms and do random work. My ears are wide and my mouth small, so I can easily keep an ear to the ground and listen in, see if anyone mentions you or is talking about Alicia."

"Great. Just melt in, be that person in the background. Make sure they don't seem bothered by you. Most people don't notice the janitor." Kelly said. "Always keep an eye on Sandra, and whomever may be watching her. You don't act unless you have to, but if you notice something weird you contact me or Kamili. We can move in without ruining your cover if we have to, I especially haven't set foot amongst the witches or the Prospect, and I have stayed out just in case I have to step in."

Madison nodded, hearing what Kelly said. The four of them ate their lunch, the conversation moving along to discuss all things about heaven and earth for a while before Kamili and Kelly exchanged glances as they saw their blonde friend yawning, gently rubbing her head a bit. It was easy to tell that Sandra was not fully recovered yet and Kamili knew she needed some rest.

"I'll drive you home." Kamili smiled, nodding towards Sandra, Sandra's head popping up before smiling gratefully.

"Thanks."

"Do you mind stopping by at the hospital to say hi to Tara or do you want me to drop you first?"

"I'll happily go by Tara."

"Give her our love." Kelly smiled, Madison nodding in agreement, as the four women split in different directions, Kamili and Sandra getting into Kamili's car and heading down to the all too familiar hospital, both of them saying hi to Martha who was at her regular space in the reception before moving their way through the corridors to Tara's room, this time knocking before peeking inside. Sticking her head in, Kamili noticed that Tara was on the phone and stayed back, but upon seeing her sister and friend, Tara waved them inside, putting the phone towards her shoulder.

"Why did you give her this number?" She mouthed to Kamili. "She's been lecturing me for 20 minutes now."

"You were supposed to call her yesterday, but you didn't. She called me _four_ times and she threatened to come." Kamili whispered.

Tara rolled her eyes as she put the phone back towards her ear, now and then humming a yes or a no. Sandra sat down in a chair in the room and looked over with a questioning eyebrow towards Kamili who sat down in Tara's bed, grinning.

"It's Mama." Kamili said.

Sandra and Kamili talked for a few moments before Tara suddenly held out the phone for Kamili, gesturing for her to take it, a wide grin on her face. "She wants to talk to you."

"How did she even know I was here?"

"I don't know, because you talk loudly. Or maybe because I told her."

"Dammit Tara, that's just mean." Kamili sighed before taking the phone, turning on a sugary sweet voice, making Sandra laugh. "Hey mama, I … No, I _did_ tell her to call you! I did!"

Sandra smiled towards Tara who leaned her head back into the pillow, coughing a bit into the bend of her arm.

"How are you doing?"

"A lot better, thanks." Tara smiled. "Feels so odd being the one in the bed, I'm just not used to this."

"It's rather odd seeing you here as well." Sandra smiled. "But I am happy that you are feeling better. When can you go home?"

"They'll let me out tomorrow, I think, I haven't seen the x-rays yet." Tara smiled, a small cough escaping her lips, but quickly settled. "How are you?"

"All good." Sandra smiled, a hand going up to rub the base of the skull, Tara instantly looking at her with an eyebrow up. "Well, a bit tired and a lingering headache but Kamili is driving me home after we've been here, I plan on taking it easy the whole weekend."

"Well that sounds good. You do need some good rest; it was quite the blow you took." Tara said, and Sandra was just about to answer as Kamili suddenly stretched the phone to Sandra. Sandra looked confused at Kamili before getting to her feet, walking around the bed and taking the phone as she leaned back against the wall.

"Yes, hello Mrs. Sow..."

Tara looked at Kamili who just shrugged her shoulders, before putting her head to its side, smiling.

"You look much better. It's nice to see you without all those tubes and wires."

"All vitals stabilized, now I'm just here for observation. I do feel much better. They did new x-rays earlier today to see if there's a difference and as long as it looks better, they'll sign me out tomorrow." Tara said, taking a lot of pauses as she talked as she became out of breath. "I was a bit out of it as you came by yesterday, they had done a bronchoscopy, but that looked alright, considering. Mark is not holding back, he's testing for everything, but everything has looked alright."

"But that's good though, making sure you're alright. He really does care for you."

Tara nodded, blushing slightly. "Yeah. He does."

"And everything really did look alright? You're not holding out on anything?"

"I promise. The oxygen level has risen to safe numbers at least so hopefully I can go home tomorrow. Home and rest."

"Do you want me to pick you up?"

"I can take a taxi."

"Or is someone else picking you up?"

A wide smile spread across Tara's face.

"I'm taking that as a yes." Kamili laughed. "How long have you been seeing each other?"

"Quite the time. It's been growing but we've both been careful as we work together, I've been pushing him more than the other way around but as I said, he's been careful as I'm his supervisor. But I think him seeing me sick made him make up his mind, wanting to take another step."

"I'm so happy for you. He seems like a great guy. I know he's a great doctor at least." Kamili smiled, thinking back at the times he had helped them out before. "And Martha didn't seem surprised?"

"Martha knows everything that's going on in this hospital. She probably knew about me and Mark long before the two of us did."

"I bet she did." Kamili laughed. "If you want to know anything that's going on, you turn to Martha no matter what."

"For sure. This hospital could not make it without her."

"Oh, I'd love that Lulu. It would be absolutely wonderful. I'm sure the rest will think the same. Yes of course..."

Kamili and Tara's eyes widened, looking at each other for a second before both of them turned to look towards Sandra, wondering just what their mother had tricked her into now. The sisters sat quiet for a moment while Sandra ended the call and turning, she was met with two sets of chestnut brown eyes staring at her.

"She invited me over!" Sandra exclaimed happily. "I said we'd all come down as soon as we can."

Tara and Kamili met each other's eyes and sighed loudly, Tara leaning back heavily into the pillows. They would never hear the end of this now.


	15. Chapter 14 - Saturday

**Chapter 14**

_Saturday, August 17__th__, 1985_

* * *

Kamili let herself into Sandra's house, immediately greeted by the dogs. Reaching down to pet them both for a little bit, she then walked through the building, heading towards Sandra's bedroom, pulling the door open to find her friend peacefully sleeping in the large bed. She had been a bit worried about her as Sandra told her that she had been having some nightmares since being hit over the head and Kamili had decided to just make sure it wasn't too bad. Walking up to the bed now she sat down, pulling a gentle hand through Sandra's hair, which was placed in a bun on top of her head. Sandra squirmed a little but remained sleeping, relaxed and calm.

Kamili turned her head around as she heard the front door open again and waiting for a moment, she soon saw Janet's face peeking in through the bedroom door.

"Hey. She alright?" Janet whispered, smiling gently as she saw her friends in the bed.

"Hey, appears that way, she's sleeping peacefully at least, no nightmares." Kamili said quietly as to not wake Sandra, getting to her feet and walking out of the bedroom, coming up to Janet, the two of them walking to the kitchen, passing Janet's car seat with a sleeping Benjamin inside of it.

"Did you eat?"

"No." Janet said. "I figured we'd have breakfast here."

"I'm going to see if there's enough in Sandra's fridge to make pancakes." Kamili smiled, knowing very well that Sandra loved her pancakes.

"I'll take the dogs for a walk. Do you mind keeping an eye on Benji in the meantime?"

"Of course, not a problem."

Janet smiled as she gathered the leashes and dogs together, heading out, as Kamili moved about in the kitchen, picking stuff out from the fridge and freezer, beginning to whip up the pancake mixture, making American blueberry pancakes for them all. Almost finished, she could hear the little boy crying, and she removed the pan from the stove before walking out to the boy, picking him up into her arms and rocking him, they boy happy again as he realized he wasn't all alone.

Kamili rocked the boy on her shoulder, snoozing and inhaling the lovely baby scent, her maternal feelings exploding inside of her. She missed having a little baby and she hoped that she would get a second chance one day. She had been in such a bad mindset when Yasmin was born that she had pretty much missed out on the whole baby years, having Morgan shouldering that part like the perfect parent as she had roamed the streets doing stupid things before being sent off to Vietnam. Sure, she had found her way back to her family and Yasmin didn't remember being abandoned by her mother at that age, but Kamili would forever remember it. Morgan had forgiven her of course, but Kamili would always regret missing Yasmin's first years. She hoped that one day she might be able to get that second chance of feeling a newborn child in her arms and making up for all that time that she missed out on the first time around. At least she got to spend time with this little baby boy now, his dark brown eyes very similar to his father's, but he had definitely inherited his mother's pale white skin and her pitch-black hair, right now just a small patch standing right up on his head. Kamili was so excited to see what this little boy would grow up to be one day and she truly hoped that she would be fortunate enough to be there for the whole journey.

She had been there as Benjamin was born, Janet calling her, voice calm but Kamili knowing Janet well enough to tell that something was going on.

* * *

"_Diallo." _

"_Hey, Kam, it's me." _

"_Hi Janet." Kamili smiled down the phone upon hearing her friend's voice._

"_I need to ask you for a favor." _

"_Okay?" Kamili said, trying to distinguish what was going on. She could tell that Janet's voice was strained but she sounded calm enough for it to not be something to panic over. _

"_Can you meet me at GW?"_

_Janet mentioning GW, their nickname for George Washington University Hospital, immediately had Kamili on edge, getting to her feet. _

"_What's the matter? Are you okay?"_

"_I'm pretty sure I'm having a baby." Janet said, so calm that it had begun freaking Kamili out. "I know I haven't asked you 'cause I figured it would be fine, but Devin is going nuts and-"_

_Kamili held her breath as she could hear Janet inhale sharply in the other end of the phone, groaning slightly for a short while before returning to the phone, exhaling loudly before continuing._

"_I- I need you here. Could you come, would you be with me? You're a mother, you've done it before, but I totally get it if you don't-" _

"_Janet, honey, I'm on my way. I'll be right down." _

"_Thanks." _

_Kamili hung up the phone, hurrying into the living room where Morgan and Yasmin __were__ sitting, watching the morning kids show. _

"_Hey, Janet is having her baby. I'm going to go there and help her out, is it okay if I leave you guys? It might be a while." _

"_Of course! Give Janet our love." Morgan smiled widely, Kamili taking a step in to give him a __peck__ on the lips before heading off to the hospital. _

_Coming into Janet's room, she quickly realized that Devin was not the calm and collected man that he normally was. He was pacing down the room, biting his knuckles, while Janet was sitting up in the bed, looking at him tiredly. _

"_Dev, take a break." Janet sighed as Kamili entered. "Go outside for a while, cool off__, get some air.__ Kamili will keep me company." _

_Devin nodded, eyes bewildered as he met Kamili, before disappearing out of the room. Kamili grinned as she walked up to the bed, Janet rolling her eyes. _

"_Men." _

"_He looks like he needs a sedative." __Kamili giggled, reaching her friend, putting her hand on Janet's shoulder. "How are you doing?" _

"_I'm alright. Thanks for coming."_

"_Of course I'll be here, don't even consider it. I'll help you the whole way, it will be alright." _

_Janet nodding, her eyes closing and her teeth clenching as an incoming contraction washed over her. Kamili squeezed her shoulder, letting her know she was there until it faded out. _

"_Can you imagine, by the end of the day you'll finally have your Benjamin." Kamili smiled as she gently rubbed Janet's collarbone with her thumb. "How close are the contractions?"_

"_About every 7__th__ minute." Janet panted, working on catching her breath. _

_Kamili nodded, observing Janet as she noticed the tears in the corners of her eyes, her nose slightly twitching. Reaching down she put both hands on Janet's shoulders, leaning down to meet her face. "Hey, what's the matter?" _

"_I wish Sandra could be here as well." Janet whispered. "I really need her." _

"_Let's call her. Maybe just hearing her voice can help you out a bit?"_

_Janet nodded, but then changed her mind and shook her head. "We promised not to call." _

"_But this is a bit of a different situation. She would want us to call." Kamili said, her heart aching as she watched Janet. Making up her mind, she pulled the phone close and picked up a business card from her wallet, not having memorized the long, foreign number by heart. It took her a while, being transferred through the lines, and comforting Janet through more contractions while being passed around in the phone, but soon she finally heard Sandra's voice through the phone line. _

"_Tromsø-politiet, dette er __Sandra__, hvordan kan jeg hjelpe deg?" _

"_Sandra, is that you?"_

"_Kammy!" _

_Kamili smiled upon hearing how happy Sandra sounded, worried that she might be upset as they had promised not to call. _

"_Hey! How are you doing?"_

"_I'm alright, how are you?"_

"_I'm all good. I'm sorry for calling you, I know you said-"_

"_It's alright, what's going on Kam? Is Janet alright?"_

"_Janet is having her baby."_

"_Oh!"_

"_And she kinda needed to hear your voice. Is that alright?"_

"_Put her on." _

_Kamili handed the phone to Janet, Janet taking it and instantly broke out sobbing. _

"_Sandra, I miss you." _

_Kamili stayed next to Janet as she spoke to Sandra, the two friends talking for quite some time, Kamili coaching Janet as she had to take breaks as the contractions interrupted their call. Soon Kamili realized that Janet was in too much pain, the contractions coming a lot closer, and she pried the phone from Janet's hand. _

"_Hey, Sandra, I think we need to end this call now." Kamili said, brushing Janet's back as Janet fought through another contraction. __"It's__ getting close, I'm going to call for Elizabeth and __have her __look her over."_

"_Call me when it's over, okay? No matter what, I need to know that she is alright. Damn, I wish I could be there__!"_

"_We wish you were here too, but don't worry, I won't leave her side. I'll call you later. Love you honey."_

"_Love you too." _

* * *

Kamili smiled as she returned to the present, the little boy wriggling in her arms. As Kamili had hung up the phone that day, calling in the midwife, it had not been many hours until Kamili placed the little boy on Janet's heaving, sweaty chest, Janet pushing through like the warrior she had always been. It had been a fairly easy delivery as Benjamin had been so tiny, just short of 7 lbs., born 5 days early, and Janet and Devin had spent many hours feeding him, both breastfeeding and with the bottle, and he had gained a lot of weight to be the chubby little baby he was now. Kamili giggled as well when she remembered how Devin had missed the whole delivery as he had gotten lost and then accidentally locked himself into the bathroom. Janet had been rather pleased as she got the calm, collected and coaching Kamili instead of the walking nervous breakdown. They had called Sandra again afterwards, letting her know that everything had gone well.

Kamili rocked the baby on her arm as she walked back into the kitchen, setting the table and taking out everything they needed while still keeping Benjamin on her arm, talking to him with a baby voice. Janet soon returned into the house with the dogs jumping around in joy, smiling as she saw Kamili with her son.

"Would you look at the two of you." Janet smiled, her head tilting as she observed them, Kamili turning to smile happily to her, Benjamin's face lighting up as he saw his mother, then instantly beginning to cry as he'd much rather be with her instead. Kamili and Janet giggled as Janet moved in and took him in her arms, the boy happy again as he came close to his mother.

"Playing favorites." Kamili grinned, finishing up, sitting down by the ready table. Janet grinned, sitting down by the table as well, having the boy against her shoulder, Benjamin threading on her thigh.

"Well, hello people who don't live here."

Janet and Kamili giggled happily as Sandra walked out into the kitchen, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and hotpants, glasses on her nose and hair in a bun on top of her head, her normal bed attire.

"I walked your dogs." Janet smiled as Sandra leaned down to pet the two dogs.

"I made you pancakes." Kamili smiled innocently, tilting her head.

Sandra's eyes popped open as she sat down at the table, pouring maple syrup over her pancakes happily digging in while Kamili passed her a cup of coffee. Sandra finished three whole pancakes before leaning back.

"What are the two of you doing here?"

"Checking up on you of course." Kamili smiled, Sandra rolling her eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm fine?"

"We know you are. We're checking anyway."

"And keeping you company." Janet smiled. "Benji told me he wanted to go see you."

"Did he really?"

"Sure did. Maybe not with so many words but he definitely told me."

Sandra grinned as she reached over and picked up the boy from Janet's arms, placing him on his bum in her lap, letting him lean back towards her stomach.

"How did we get a little boy into this group of girls?"

"He's going to be so spoiled. So many women who loves him."

"We'll teach him everything we know."

"Not everything." Janet said, her eyes wide, as Kamili and Sandra laughed.

"No, maybe not everything." Kamili agreed, Sandra nodding as well. "But I am so excited to see what all our little children will grow up and become."

"Well, Yasmin will be a pilot." Janet said, giving Kamili a knowing look. "Give her a year or two and she'll be big enough for me to take her up flying."

"Oh dear, my poor heart." Kamili said, pretending to look faint. "The day she starts flying is the day I'll have another heart attack."

"Don't you dare." Sandra smiled, reaching over to brush Kamili's lower arm, Kamili smiling, patting her hand.

"It's safer to fly than to drive a car."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." Kamili said, shaking her head. "You guys both know how much I like airplanes."

"We both know how Kelly accidentally slips you sleeping pills before boarding." Janet giggled, rolling her eyes.

"Wait what?"

"Don't tell us that you didn't know that?" Janet laughed, turning to Kamili. "You're supposed to be a detective."

Kamili sat back, her mind obviously thinking back at the times they had been flying together, a look of revelation on her face as she realized why she had been sleeping so well on the last flights. Sandra and Janet grinned as they watched her reaction to what they had just told her. Smiling, Sandra kept the conversation going.

"Do you think Ella will follow Aurore's tracks? She does spend a lot of time in the kitchen."

"Perhaps, as long as she keeps enjoying it." Janet smiled. "She would make a good little chef."

"Sarah told me the other day that she will be a princess. In this day and age, who knows."

"Jill told me she used to date a prince. At least she has connections."

"Why am I not the least bit surprised by that?" Kamili laughed. "_Of course_ she dated a prince, it's Jill after all."

Sandra laughed. "True. Jill told me that she was visiting for Charlie's birthday, she was out shopping with Kelly and was picked up by a prince."

"Of course, _of course_ she would be the one picked up by a prince." Janet laughed. "I mean, Kelly is one of the most beautiful women in the world and then Jill comes along. I always liked my looks but standing next to them make me feel like an ogre."

The trio laughed, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Kelly, Kris and Jill all said that the prince was so handsome, but I've seen pictures, and maybe he looks better in real life than those but hey, he's a prince so who cares. Anyway, they ended up having to save his life as someone tried to kill him."

"Of course, why does everything always turn into a case?" Janet sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know. All angels, past and present, seem to attract trouble."

The trio laughed and continued talking for a while, just enjoying each other's company, sitting around the table reminiscing about old times and fantasizing about what the future might have in store for them. They talked about possibly going down to Georgia and Janet thought it sounded like a great idea, knowing Devin had been talking a lot about visiting his family down there as well. Moving into the living room Janet fed Benjamin while Sandra re-braided Kamili's hair, getting the afro mohawk back in place while turning on a movie to watch.

* * *

In another part of town, Kelly and Kris was walking out and about. They had Jessica and Jacob with them, Jessica holding Kris's hand and Jacob holding Kelly's, as usual. Sarah held Kelly's other hand while Ella was walking a bit ahead of them together with Peggy.

"Mommy, hurry!" Jessica whined, pulling Kris along, Kris giggling and pulling her back.

"Take it easy sweetie, we're almost there."

"Mommy I wanna see the lions!"

"Of course. Of course you want to see the lions." Kris sighed, rolling her eyes. "What about the monkeys, the Mongolian horses, the pandas?"

"No, lions!"

"Peggy, there are lions, right?" Kris asked, talking a bit loud so Peggy could hear her.

Peggy turned around, walking backwards with her massive hair bouncing off her shoulders.

"There are. We have the Great Cats on Lion and Tiger Hill."

Jessica's eyes were wide, sparkling with excitement as Peggy spoke, bouncing next to Kris, pulling at her arm.

"Hurry!"

"They will still be there in ten minutes." Kris laughed.

"Kelly, I see panda." Jacob nodded, looking up at Kelly and she smiled gently down to him.

"We're going to see as many animals we have time to." Kelly smiled, looking down at the boy holding her hand, turning to Sarah. "What do you want to see?"

"Fluffy!"

The gang all followed Peggy down the road. They were in Northwest Washington D.C., heading towards the Rock Creek Park, which is a part of the Smithsonian National Zoo, which also just happened to be where Peggy worked along her studies to become a veterinarian.

"Peggy, can we meet Fluffy?" Sarah asked, Peggy turning again, smiling.

"Of course you can meet Fluffy. He is doing great with his girls. I'll take you inside to meet him."

"Yay!" Sarah bounced, excited to meet their iguana again.

Peggy showed them in, coming up to Taft Bridge where Jessica started bouncing again, pointing.

"Lions!"

"Those are the Perry Lions." Peggy smiled. "The four lions guard the bridge, two on each end of the bridge. They have been here since 1907."

"Why are they called Perry Lions?" Kris asked, curious.

"Oh, because they were designed and sculpted by a man named Roland Hinton Perry."

* * *

The day proceeded with both kids and adults enjoying themselves. Peggy showed them around, took them into the backspaces and told them facts that no one actually listened to. She was so excited to show them around and show them what she did whenever she was here, Peggy not being assigned to any particular animals as the plan for her future was to become a zoo veterinarian, not an animal keeper. She needed to get acquainted with all the animals and learn all of their behaviors, but having been studying them since being very young, she was doing a good job.

She took them around, showing them the lions, the Giant Pandas, and of course allowed them all into the enclosure to meet Fluffy. The adults all sat down, the kids sitting in their laps, except Ella who was sitting next to Kelly while Peggy scooted off in the enclose, trying to get Fluffy to move in the right direction. It didn't take long before they noticed the 5-foot Grand Cayman iguana move towards them, and Kelly couldn't help but to laugh at herself as she could feel the tears burn in her eyes as she watched the massive animal move towards them with determined steps. She wasn't sure if iguanas could recognize or remember people, but it sure appeared to be that way as he made his way over to them, Kelly having to move both Sarah and Jacob out of the way as Fluffy just continued up into her lap, settling, licking her hand, closing the eye closest to Kelly, just like he used to do when he was just a baby and Kelly had him in his lap during the evenings as they watched TV. Kelly never understood how she had gotten a reptile as a pet, but some things are just not worth digging deeper into.

"Oh Fluffy." Kelly laughed, leaning down to hug the massive, 25 pounds heavy animal.

The kids and Kris all gathered around them, happily and carefully petting Fluffy for as long as he allowed them too, then all of a sudden it appeared that he was finished, as he just crawled along, down from Kelly's lap and off to his ladies in the enclosure.

Peggy smiled as she leaned down and hugged Kelly from behind.

"He remembered ya! That's just too sweet!"

"He looks really good." Kelly smiled, looking up at Peggy.

"Oh yeah, he's fit as a fiddle, ya know." Peggy smiled, still hugging Kelly. "He's happy here."

"That makes me happy too."

"Ya know, there are more animals that need some love and-"

"You are not bringing any more wild animals into my home."

"Oh, alrighty then." Peggy grinned, letting go of Kelly. Kelly rolled her eyes, just knowing that there would absolutely be more wild animals in her home in the upcoming future, of that she was sure. Now she got to her feet, pulling Kris up and taking the kids hands as they moved out of the area, Peggy closing behind them.

"Where are we off to now?" Ella asked, curious as she followed Peggy around.

"I don't know, where do you want to go?"

"Dinner!" Jessica called out, bouncing around her mother again.

"It's too early for dinner, but we might find you some cotton candy." Peggy smiled, Jessica exploding with excitement, Kris rolling her eyes.

"Great Peggy, _sugar_ is just what she needs."

"How was I to know?" Peggy laughed, leaning down and grabbing a hold of Jessica, putting her on her shoulders, galloping around pretending to be a horse while Jessica laughed out loud.

* * *

"Did both kids actually fall asleep?" Kelly asked, eyes wide as Kris entered the living room.

"Yeah, on top of Peggy."

"Is Peggy asleep as well?"

"Yeah. In my bed."

Kelly giggled, having some cheese on a cracker from the platter on the living room table.

"Good luck getting her out of there now. You probably have to sleep on the couch or come over to our guestroom. Or take Peggy's bed."

"That's fine. I'll happily take the couch if Peggy takes the kids from me once in a while. They are a handful."

"They are. But you're doing such a great job with them. They are becoming some fantastic little people."

"Thanks. They've had a lot of great people around them to help raise them." Kris smiled, nudging Kelly's arm. "I'll forever be grateful to you for saving me and saving them."

Kelly stretched, wrapping her arm around Kris' shoulder.

"And I saved myself in the process as well."

"You do have the biggest heart I know."

Kelly didn't answer, instead she just put her head towards Kris', actions louder than words. Kelly felt so grateful to have her Kris back. She was not the same girl that Kelly had once gotten to know in Los Angeles, the young girl with pigtails and braces, nervous and giggly as she had been introduced to Jill's best friends. Today Kris was a woman who had endured love and heartbreak, and it had made her to the strong agent she was today. Kelly was so proud over Kris and she was so happy that she had been able to see Kris' journey, following her every step of the way, helping her along. She had grown so much just during the first years of being an angel, and Kelly couldn't help but to smile as she remembered the nervous girl who roared into the office only to find out that Charlie had been kidnapped. She had certainly grown since.

"I have something to tell you by the way."

Kelly lifted her head, looking down to meet Kris' eyes, Kris smiling as she looked up at Kelly.

"Do you remember why I moved to Washington?"

"To join the FBI?"

"Yeah. More precisely, I had gotten a job offer from the BAU."

"Oh right, the Behavior Analysis Unit."

"Yeah. I went there, but then transferred to Tommy's team as I arrived. But now, the FBI Supervisory Special Agent Douglas Roberts want me to join the new NCAVC."

"The what?"

"The NCAVC. National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. It's going to replace the unit formerly called BSISU, the behavioral science investigative support unit, and the plan is that the NCAVC will be working with behavioral-based investigations, support, research and training to federal, state, local and even international law enforcement agencies. "

"That sounds really interesting. I'm sure you will love it; you always did find the behavioral studies interesting."

"Yeah. I'll transfer over by the end of the month. I'm really excited."

"I'm so happy for you. Does that also mean that you won't be working in the field?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, my field days are over, but I'm not sad about that, I think this will suit me better." Kris smiled, Kelly nodding, squeezing Kris' shoulders again.

"What's going on?" Jill said as she walked into the room, but stopped instantly, her nose going into the air. "What's that smell?"

"Cheese." Kris said, looking over her shoulder while lifting the cheese platter a bit, showing it to her sister.

"I'm going to hurl." Jill whispered, her hand going to her mouth, twirling around and hurrying off to the bathroom.

Both Kelly and Kris sighed loudly, feeling sorry for Jill, looking at each other before Kris nodded, getting to her feet and following her sister into the bathroom as Aurore walked inside.

"Hey sweetie. What happened to Jill?"

Kelly just held up the cheese platter for Aurore to see, and she shook her head, sighing.

"Poor Jill. Her favorite cheese and all. Let's eat it so she doesn't get sick again."

Kelly giggled as Aurore took a big chunk of cheese and stuffed it into her mouth, smiling happily while chewing it down. Kelly followed her example, putting a big piece into her mouth as well, the two of the leaning back chewing for a moment. Swallowing down, Kelly turned to Aurore, both of them leaning with their elbows against the backrest of the couch, looking at each other.

"How did everything go at the zoo?"

"Oh just fine. We got to meet Fluffy, he crawled up into my lap."

"You're kidding."

"No, it was awesome. He looked really happy."

"I can't believe you fell in love with that lizard."

"Me neither." Kelly laughed. "But it's nice to see that he's doing good. Peggy showed us around, showing us all the animals and the grounds. It's a nice place, I can see why she likes it over there."

"It fits her perfectly. Where is she now?"

"She and the twins are napping in Kris' room."

"Ella and Sarah?"

"Ella is home alone, Sarah went to the Diallo's for a sleepover."

"I just love that Sarah and Yasmin are becoming such great friends."

"Me too." Kelly smiled. She still remembered the first time those girls had met on Sarah's birthday almost three years ago. They had become great friends with the same interest in all things pink, ballet and dolls and Kelly was excited to see the two of them grow up alongside each other, turning into beautiful little women.

Aurore grabbed another piece of cheese from the platter, Kelly smiling as she observed her partner for a moment, loving to see her kick back a bit.

"How did everything go at the restaurant?"

"Oh just fine. Going through the books and finances, making sure it all looks good, which it does. Jill is getting really good at all that bookwork, leaning from the accountant. She's even thinking about going back to school to learn more."

"Oh, really? I guess she needs to grow up at some point as well." Kelly laughed, just as Kris and Jill came back into the living room. Kelly hurried to put the last pieces of the cheese into her mouth, taking the cheese platter out into the kitchen, coming back to sit next to Aurore as Kris and Jill took the armchairs.

"Aurore told me you're considering going back to school?"

"Yeah." Jill said, taking the blanket that Aurore handed her, wrapping herself in it, leaning her head against the back of the armchair. "I've considered it at least; I do need a new career and I want to learn how to properly invest my money and do good with them. Becoming an accountant I could help Aurore out on that front and maybe invest in other companies as well."

"I think that sounds like a good idea." Kelly smiled. "It would be good for you to get something to do."

"Yeah, it will have to wait for a bit though. It's too late to apply right now and I think I might be a bit busy come spring."

"You might be, yes."

"If I survive till spring. I still think they are trying to kill me." Jill whispered, closing her eyes while pulling the blanket higher up.

"You're not doing too good." Kelly stated, her heart twitching a bit as she just hated seeing her friend feeling so sick as she was.

Jill shook her head, eyes still closed, just breathing with her face into the blanket. The four women sat quiet for a while, just observing Jill as she drifted off to sleep, face pale and body tired. After several minutes, Aurore stretched her back a little, looking between Kelly and Kris.

"Did you guys eat dinner?"

"No, we were talking earlier about reheating that lasagna you did but we ended up just eating the cheese." Kris smiled; a bit embarrassed.

"Are you hungry?"

"I could eat." Kris smiled widely, hoping that Aurore had brought food with her from the restaurant as she often did.

"I did bring some salmon home."

"Sounds good to me." Kelly smiled, Kris nodding along, looking up at Jill.

"We need to see if we can get her to eat as well. Everything is just making her sick, but we need to help her."

"I did get lunch into her earlier today which she enjoyed and got to keep." Aurore said, a wicked grin spreading across her face with made both Kris and Kelly raise an eyebrow.

"What did you serve her?"

"Banana split."

Both Kris and Kelly laughed, keeping it quiet not to wake Jill again, both of them shaking their heads as Aurore grinned proudly.

"What, she can eat whatever from my kitchen as long as she keeps it down. If the pregnant, sick woman wants banana and ice cream for lunch, that is what I will serve her. She even had double portions."

"Well, I think we found a tactic. Desserts it is." Kris smiled, nodding, the other two agreeing with her, all three of them silently agreeing that they would do everything in their power to make sure that Jill got through this pregnancy.


	16. Chapter 15 - Families

**Chapter 15**

_Monday, August 19__th__, 1985_

* * *

The rest of the weekend passed quickly, and come Monday, they all met up in the office as usual.

"Good morning Angels."

"Good morning Charlie."

"How was your weekend?"

"Very nice and calm." Sandra smiled, looking around amongst the others, all of them agreeing.

"What did you do Madison?" Kamili asked. They had asked her if she wanted to join in on the girls' weekend they were having but she had told them she had plans already.

"I took my bike up to New York and met some old friends that I haven't seen in a while. We had a good night out on town and yesterday we just rummage around town before heading back here."

"That sounds very nice." Sandra smiled, turning to Kelly. "And you guys went with Peggy to the zoo?"

"Yes." Kelly smiled, looking up at Sandra. "We had a good day."

"Sarah was well excited when she came over." Kamili grinned. "She told us all about the lions and pandas, monkeys and the fact that you got to meet Fluffy."

"How was your weekend Charlie?" Sandra asked, turning towards the invisible boss.

"Oh, dull and adventure-free."

"Aren't you calling from Paris?" Kelly said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe there was some adventure involved." Charlie's voice chuckled through the speaker phone. "Now tell me Angels, where are we at the case?"

"Good question." Kamili sighed. "Kelly and I are spending today to see if we can find any information about the four missing women. We're going to meet the families and see if we can connect the four. Tomorrow we will meet up with Kris and Agent Donner at the CIA to see if they have found something as well."

"I'll go down to the Prospect, just hanging around as if nothing happened. Madison will come down there as well, working here and there in the background."

"I have been working through the notebooks and the diary as well, listening to the tapes we found, trying to sort out a timeline of Alicia's last 6 months, and she was definitely working on a story including four missing women, four missing witches, but either she didn't want it written down, or she didn't know much. There are no details mentioned that I can find." Madison added.

"What about the diary?" Kelly asked, leaning back in her chair.

"It's all coded."

"If you hand me a copy, I'll give it to Donner, the CIA have great people when it comes to decoding." Kamili said, Madison nodded.

"I left it all at home, but I can go and pick it up at my lunch break."

"Good. If we're not here, just drop it off, I'll tell him to pass by on his way home." Kamili nodded to Madison, before looking around. "Okay, are we ready to take off?

"Keep in touch Angels." Charlie said, the speaker box clicking as he hung up the phone.

"We'll all be moving around during lunch, so we'll meet up in the morning instead." Kelly said. "All of you call and update me when you're heading home."

All agreed, grabbing their things and walked outside to their cars.

"Hey, is this your new car?" Madison said, hurrying out the last steps from the office, moving against the black car.

"Yeah! I picked it up yesterday." Kamili smiled, walking up, unlocking the Audi to allow Madison to have a closer look.

"It looks great."

"It's really fun to drive." Kamili grinned, watching as Madison slid into the car, poking around at all the buttons. "You'll get to try it later on, I promise."

"Looking forward to it." Madison grinned, moving back out of the car.

The four women chitchatted for a moment before getting into their different cars, heading off in different directions. Madison and Sandra heading the same way but taking different routes to not arrive at the same time to throw off suspicions, Sandra instantly moving to her desk to sit down and write while Madison headed into the basement to change clothes.

* * *

"Hi. My name is Kelly Garrett and I work for Charles Townsend Detective Agency."

"Detective Agency?"

"Yes. We are investigating the death of a young woman named Alicia and in the process of that we stumbled upon several missing people reports, one of them being, what I believe, your daughter, Anna Jackson?"

The older man by the door froze, his back straight as he stared at Kelly for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Kelly took a deep breath before she continued.

"I just want to talk to you for a few moments if you can spare your time. By finding out who killed Alicia we might be able to find out what happened to Anna. I understand if this is hard for you to talk about, but I would really appreciate your help."

The man gave a small nod, appearing to have suddenly realized what she wanted. Opening the door he allowed her inside, Kelly stepping into the house, carefully looking around in the all-American home.

"I'm Thomas Jackson, but perhaps you already knew that." The man said. "Can I offer you some coffee?"

"I'm good, thank you anyway."

The man nodded, his hand gesturing towards the living room where Kelly sat down into the couch.

"Miss… Garrett, was it?" The man asked, sitting down opposite her, Kelly nodding with a gentle smile. "Please, I don't really understand?"

"Could you please tell me what you know about your daughter's disappearance?"

The man sighed, leaning back into the couch, his eyes glistening with tears as he reminisced.

"She… She was a happy girl, 26 years old at the time we lost her. She was happy, outgoing, everyone loved her. She had finished school, trying to make a name for herself. Then she just disappeared. One day we couldn't reach her, it was as if she was just wiped from the face of the earth."

Kelly sat quiet for a moment, making sure that the man in front of her had finished talking before she began asking questions.

"This was two years ago?"

"Yeah. Two years. I contacted the police the minute I felt something was wrong, and they dug for a bit but soon dropped it as they couldn't even find a body. She just… became a case file in a pile somewhere."

"She became a case file amongst the FBI's cold cases. A close friend of mine works there, and as we began searching for a person who killed another young woman, her name showed up, along with several other cold cases. We believe there might be a connection between the missing women, but we need to find the connection. If we can find that out, it might lead us to the killer. I'm afraid I might not be able to bring your daughter back… But I might give you rest."

"I'll help anyway I can." The man nodded, determination in his eyes.

"What did Anna work with?"

"She was an ecologist. She was always interested in nature, the symbiosis between all living things."

"Is that how she became invested in the occult society?"

"You know about that? Of course you do. I didn't really agree about the whole witch-thing, but perhaps I just wasn't open-minded enough. To me it just seemed like a bunch of crap, pardon my language. But she enjoyed it. She told me there were some great women there, interesting conversations and good foundations for her stories."

Kelly sat straight, leaning forward. "Stories?"

"Oh, she did some freelance writing for a magazine, writing stories about nature and helped them out with proof-reading."

"What was the name of the magazine?"

"I… I don't remember. But I have some old copies I think, give me a minute."

Kelly sat still in the couch, looking around the living room, observing the pictures on the wall showing a happily family of three. It was hard to imagine that the family had just been shattered one day, leaving broken pieces on the ground. Kelly had read in the file that Anna's mother had been so caught up in her daughter's disappearing, obsessed with it, and as the case had been dropped, she had driven her car off the road. Kelly couldn't even picture how she would've reacted to one of her daughters being killed or disappearing without a trace. Just how far would she go?

Mr. Jackson suddenly returned, two magazines in hand, giving them to Kelly. She took them, looking down and took a deep breath. The Prospect. Of course. Why was she even surprised?

"This is great, Mr. Jackson. This is the same magazine that our victim worked for, giving us a clear connection between the two cases."

"Oh. Well, if I can help out in any way, please just let me know. I will do anything I can."

"Thank you, Mr. Jackson. I will be in touch, hopefully with some closure." Kelly said, getting to her feet, shaking her hand. He followed her to the door, watching her get into her car.

* * *

"Hi. I'm so sorry for disturbing you. My name is Kamili Diallo and I work for Charles Townsend Detective Agency."

"You don't look like a detective."

Kamili instantly pulled up her identification from her back pocket, handing it to the woman who was peeking out through the door, safety chain still on. The woman snuck a hand out, took the identification and looked at it for a few second before handing it back. She made no motions to open the door though, so Kamili continued.

"You can come back when my husband returns from work." The woman said, beginning to close the door, but Kamili twisted her foot in through the small crack, wearing her trusty steel-toe cap boots.

"Please, we are investigating the murder of a young woman and we have reason to believe that the same person that killed her might've killed Sophie."

"My Sophie?"

"Sophie Brown. She was your daughter, yes?"

The small part of the face that Kamili could see through the crack nodded, her voice changing.

"Yes. She was my daughter."

"May I talk to you about her? We are investigating and hoping that we can find out what happened to her. But we need help. If I could just talk to you for a few minutes, I would really appreciate it."

The eye in the crack looked at Kamili for several long moments, Kamili taking a deep breath before pulling her foot back out, allowing the woman on the other side of the door to make a decision. Mrs. Brown remained quiet, looking at Kamili for another few moments before she closed the door, the door remaining closed long enough for Kamili to believe that she had been shut out. Taking a step back, she was just about to knock on the door again when it opened, the older, small woman standing in the door, nodding for Kamili to step inside.

"Thank you." Kamili smiled, moving inside, being escorted to the small, cramped living room, sitting down into the couch. "I'm sorry for barging in on you like this, but we really need your help."

"I've made my peace with the loss of my daughter." The woman said, anger and hurt both audible in her voice. "Why do you come here to bring all of that pain back up?"

"I'm trying to find out what happened to her."

"Why? What point is there to dig up the past?"

"Don't you want to know what happened to her?"

"It's not going to bring my daughter back."

"No, but it could prevent more young women to lose their lives."

"That doesn't help my daughter."

Kamili got back up on her feet, as the woman in front of her never sat down, not comfortable in Kamili's presence.

"Mrs. Brown, I can't even begin to understand what you have gone through. I can't even phantom it. But if my daughter would just go missing one day, I would fight till the ends of the earth to get her back to me, and if I weren't able to do that I would at least not rest until I found out what happened."

"You have a daughter?"

"Yes." Kamili smiled. "Her name is Yasmin."

"Do you carry her picture?" The woman asked, suddenly smiling gently.

"No." Kamili said. "In my line of business you never know what can happen, and I don't want her to be dragged into it. For safety reasons, I don't carry her picture. But to see her, all I have to do is close my eyes. I'm sure you still carry your daughter with you."

"My memory of her is fading. I'm terrified that I one day won't remember the sound of her laughter or the dimples when she smiled."

"I don't believe that. I don't believe that a mother can ever forget her daughter. How long has it been since she disappeared?"

"Almost three years, but it feels like yesterday. All the interviews, all the policemen, so many questions. And it never led anywhere, they just pushed her aside and gave up. They just… they gave up on my girl. They failed her. My husband and and I are still married but it took very hard on our relationship, blaming each other and God knows what else."

Kamili wasn't sure how to react as the woman in front of her suddenly sat down into the couch, her face into her hands as she began to cry. Carefully sitting down in the armchair opposite the woman, Kamili carefully, gently, put her hand on her knee.

"We are not giving up on her, you have my promise. We are going to be working this case until we find out what happened to your daughter, and four other women. We know one of the women were murdered, and we have reason to believe your daughter was too, by the same person. But we need help to move forward, we need your help."

"How can I help?"

"Tell me about your daughter. What was she like? What did she do for a living? How was she behaving before she disappeared?"

"She was a timid girl, not outspoken, kept back in the distance, didn't make much sound. She loved the forest, and would spend all her time out there, observing the trees, the glades, the animals. She was never as happy as she was when being out in the woods."

"One of the connections she has with the other women is that she was invested with the wicca community?"

"Yes, I never understood it but it made me happy that she found friends, that she found people that she could open up around. I always thought it made her happy and would help her along in her life. Then she just… disappeared. No one there knew anything, and no one seemed interested to help. Such friends, right?"

Kamili sat quiet, shaking her head as she listened to Mrs. Brown.

"What did Sophie do for a living?"

"She was a photographer. She loved taking pictures of nature, the trees." Mrs. Brown said, her hand gesturing up, making a circle. Kamili looked around, realizing the walls were covered in black and white photos of tress.

"These shots are beautiful." Kamili smiled, turning back to the woman. "Was she a freelance photographer?"

"Yes, but she sold most of her work to a magazine, called the Prospect."

"The Prospect?"

"Yes. They paid well for her photos, were good to her. But they were no help when she disappeared, kept saying it was tragic but nothing they knew anything about, saying that people often just came and went as they pleased."

"You have been more helpful than you know." Kamili smiled, pulling up a business card. "If there's anything you think off, don't hesitate to call me. I will keep you updated on how the case proceeds; I promise."

Mrs. Brown nodded, smiling to Kamili as the two made it to the door, Kamili shaking her hand before moving to her car, heading to the next stop of the day.

* * *

"Hi. My name is Kelly Garrett and I work for Charles Townsend Detective Agency."

"Charles Townsend? That's a very respectable firm."

Kelly's face broke out into a gentle, humble smile.

"It's not common for people to have heard of us."

"I worked my whole life in law enforcement, everyone in the business should know about the Townsend Agency."

Kelly nodded, shrugging her shoulders a bit. She had read in the case file that the man in front of her, Richard Wilson, had worked as a cop his whole life before retiring. Now he stood with his back tall in front of her, his wife right behind him peaking over his shoulder as he took a step back, allowing Kelly inside.

"What can we do for you Miss Garrett?"

"I'm here to talk about Olivia."

Both of the seniors inhaled sharply, especially the Mrs. and Kelly instantly continued.

"I know it might be hard to talk about her, and I understand that completely. But all I ask for is a few moments of your time. We are working a case at the moment that has dragged up her old case file, along with several other missing women, and we are trying to find a link, to possibly find out what happened."

"I made sure that everything that could come out from that case was, I pulled every lead and yanked every chain. Everyone I knew was working on that, I even dragged the FBI into it. They never did find her or had any clues to what happened."

"I know that. And I am not sure I will be able to find a body, but I do have hope that we can get a confession out of the killer and that way find out what happened. But we are stomping at the same spot at the moment and all help is valuable to us."

"Coffee?"

"Sure, thank you." Kelly smiled, nodding to Mrs. Wilson who disappeared into the kitchen, Kelly and the husband following her as the two of them sat down at the kitchen table.

"Anything we can do." Mr. Wilson said. "We've been waiting for that case file to open up again. None of us are resting until we can find out what happened."

"We will not be resting until we solved this case. You know of our reputation – we have never failed a case. We always find the answers, and this case will not be any different."

"How can we help?"

"Just tell me about your daughter. I want to know what I can't read in her files. What was she like? What did she do in her spare time, what did she do for a living?"

"She was a sweet girl, didn't bother anyone. Kept to herself but had plenty of friends. She always loved nature, would spend hours on the beach listening got the ocean, and spend hours in the woods watching the trees. She didn't have many hobbies, but she was very interested in the world of the occult. She saw those girls as sisters, sister we were never able to give her."

"We lost a baby girl, many, many years ago, to sudden infant death syndrome. Our Olivia was only a few years but I'm afraid she never got over it. She spent her whole life searching for sisters. And when she finally finds them… We lost her too."

"I am so terribly sorry for your loss." Kelly said carefully. I can't even imagine your pain."

The seniors sat quiet for a moment before Mr. Wilson continued again.

"She worked as an editor, helping out at a magazine. She was very good at it."

"What was the name of the magazine?"

"The Prospect. I always liked that name. Now it seems ridiculous."

"You answering with the name of that magazine just made me certain that your daughter met the same faith as the other women."

"If we can be at any help…"

"I will keep you informed." Kelly said, picking up one of her brand-new business cards. "And if you think of anything that might help me, don't hesitate to call. My pager number is on there, if you call that I will get back to you as soon as I can."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for your help."

Kelly was just about to let herself out of the house, walking through the doorway, when Mrs. Wilson stopped her.

"Do you have kids, Miss Garrett?"

Kelly stopped, turning in the doors, a serious look on her face for a second before she gave a small nod.

"Yes, I have two daughters."

"What are they like?"

"Edith, please." Mr. Wilson commented, feeling the question was out of place. Kelly on the other hand held up her hand, walking closer to Mrs. Wilson, picking up her wallet. In a hidden compartment was a picture of her girls, Ella holding Kris' hand and Sarah holding Aurore's.

"Their names are Ella and Sarah. Ella is 12, and a wonderful little chef. Sarah is turning 6 very soon, and she's hoping to become a ballerina or a princess, she hasn't made up her mind yet."

"They are beautiful."

"Thank you."

Mrs. Wilson took a long deep breath before looking Kelly straight in the eye.

"What would you do if you lost them both, without answers, nor explanation? I understand that you work in a business where you catch monsters, but what if there's no monster to catch? No one to blame?"

"I can't even put myself in the mindset of that." Kelly said. "But I am fairly certain that I would lose my mind. My girls keep me grounded, in a world of pain and suffering they are the ones to bring roses to my garden. They make the sun shine on my darkest day and they give me a reason to keep doing what I do. They make me want to catch every bad person out there and they make me want to make the streets safe, for their sake. Not having them in my life… I would be a train wreck. I am so amazed by you, by the fact that you're even standing up."

Mrs. Wilson nodded, not sure what to say, but now certain that Kelly would take the case seriously. Kelly put on her kindest of smiles, reaching out to carefully place her hand on top of Mrs. Wilson's.

"I can't begin to understand your pain. But I will do everything in my power to give you closure."

"Thank you."

Kelly nodded, smiling as she once again turned to leave. Just as she reached the door, her pager beeped. Turning to look at it for a second, she turned back to the couple.

"Would you mind terribly if I borrowed your phone? It's local."

"No, please, go ahead."

Kelly smiled gratefully, sitting down in the couch and picking up the phone, calling the number on her pager.

"Hello, this is Kelly Garrett. Someone paged me from this number?"

"_Hi there, my name is Stephen Miller. I have one of your co-workers here, Mrs. Diallo?" _

"Is everything alright?" Kelly asked, instantly worried. She had recognized the name of the man straight away as one of the families of their list, pulling the list out from her back pocket seeing his name and address on there.

"_There was a bomb."_


	17. Chapter 16 - Important

**Chapter 16**

_Still Monday, August 19__th__, 1985_

* * *

"Hi. I'm so sorry for disturbing you. My name is Kamili Diallo and I work for Charles Townsend Detective Agency."

"Detective Agency? I hope you don't mind me saying but you don't look like a detective."

Kamili smiled to the older man in the massive oak door, his wife peeking around the corner, curious at who had come knocking.

"I get that a lot. I carry identification, of course." Kamili smiled, reaching back to grab it.

"You also carry a gun, I see."

Kamili instantly beat herself up, she knew showing her gun in the holster attached to her belt was never a smart move if she wanted to get on their good side and earn their trust. The gun usually made people feel uneasy.

"I have a permit, of course." She smiled gently. "I will leave the gun in the car if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

"That depends. What do you want to talk to us about?"

"Ava." Kamili said carefully, testing the female name to see how they would react. "We are trying to find out what happened to her."

The man stood quiet for a long moment, just staring at Kamili, until the woman in the background stepped forward.

"Marcus, let her inside."

The man, shaken from the trance by his wife's words, allowed Kamili to step inside, the trio stepping into the massive house, Kamili a bit wide-eyed as she had never been in a home as large as this, impressed by the furniture, paintings and statues. She followed the Millers into the large living room, sitting down to talk.

"What do you know about Ava?" Mrs. Miller asked, leaning forward as she sat in the couch, holding her husband's hand.

"I don't know much. I've read the police report and I've read the missing person file from the FBI, which was amongst their cold cases. What I do know is that there is a total of five woman who all seem to be connected in more ways than one, and we do know that one of those women are dead. We believe the other four to have suffered the same fate, and I believe Ava might be one of them. If we can find out how all five are connected, and what was going on before they disappeared, we might find the murderer and hopefully get a confession from him or her."

"We would be very happy if we could rest. Ava's disappearance took very hard on the family, especially her brother." Mr. Miller said, having sat quiet, listening.

"I did read that she had a twin brother. I also read that he didn't believe her to be missing, certain that she was dead." Kamili said carefully.

"Albert. He lives in New York City now; he couldn't stand being around Ava's empty house. He blames himself; he thought he should've sensed that something was wrong. But he never searched for her, positive that she wouldn't be found."

"Why he was so certain?"

"He did tell me that he couldn't feel her anymore. It's… a twin thing, I guess. I have never been able to fully understand it but both Ava and Albert spoke as if they could feel that they had the other twin right there. Not like feeling each other's pain or anything like that… But just, they could feel each other's presence."

"We filed a missing report file on her when Albert came home, very distraught, telling us that he couldn't feel her, telling us something had happened, something bad. He couldn't pinpoint it, and the police thought he was ridiculous of course."

Kamili nodded, listening as the two seniors talked.

"The police and FBI dropped it when they couldn't find any proof that she had been taken, killed or anything else. There was just no trace of her, she just… she vanished."

"I read that she was involved with the wicca society, in the world of the occult?"

"She liked to study witchcraft. It was always a bit odd, but we wanted her to do what she liked. When she was a kid, she loved creating potions, she had a kettle, trying to turn her brother into a frog." Mrs. Miller laughed slightly, shaking her head before continuing. "She broke her arm as she tried to fly on a broomstick from the roof."

"Oh no." Kamili chuckled, the parents letting out a lovable laughter as well.

"She was a bit of a crazy kid. She believed herself to be a witch. She believed she could do things with potions, the right herbs, spices and mixtures. She was very involved in the witch community here in town, and she learned so many things. She was never shy to talk about the secrets and what was going on within the society, she figured everyone should know what was happening, everyone should have all information. I believe that's what killed her. There were rumors that the other witches were angry with her for spreading their secrets." Mr. Miller said, quietly rubbing the back of his neck as he reminisced about his daughter.

"I see. I'm sure she only had good intentions, but sometimes people are so easily upset by things another percept as just a small detail." Kamili said, nodding quietly. "What did she do for a living?"

"Nothing, really. We've been blessed with good fortune and got along without economic problems, so she would ask us for help when needed, but she didn't spend much." Mr. Miller continued. "She had a small cottage where she lived, the rent was very fair. She cultivated the land around and got her own food, she had some animals for protein, some goats for milk and cheese. She loved growing her own things, knowing where everything came from. She had sheep from which she got wool, spun it for yarn and knitted her own clothes. She worked every day in her life to keep her little farm running but she never had an ordinary job as one would call it."

"Do you know if she was involved in a magazine called the Prospect?"

"I've never heard of it." Mrs. Miller said, looking to her husband he shook his head as well. Negative.

"Well. I got answers to the questions I had at this time." Kamili smiled. "Please take my business card, and if there's anything you remember or think of that might be helpful, please don't hesitate to call me. I will of course keep you informed of our progress as well."

The older couple got to their feet, shaking Kamili's hand and Mr. Miller taking her card, before they walked her to the door. Just as she was about to step out, Mrs. Miller stepped up.

"Oh, Miss, please wait one second."

Kamili stopped in the door, turning around.

"I believe she is a Mrs.; she's wearing a ring." Mr. Miller pointed out to his wife, an eyebrow up.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, it's alright." Kamili smiled. She was used to people not noticing the ring, and a lot of times while out on the field she didn't wear it in fear of what might happen to Morgan and the girls if someone wanted to harm her. Right now she felt safe with it though and she loved the feeling of it, having just that tiny piece of home around her finger.

Kamili and Mr. Miller waited in the door for a few moments before Mrs. Miller returned, holding a leather-bound book.

"We found this when we cleaned out Ava's house. It's her diary. There's a lot of things in there that we don't really understand, but maybe your detective eyes can have use of it."

"Oh, this is a gold mine for clues. With your permission I will borrow it, but I will be careful, and I will return it to you."

"You go ahead and borrow it. I hope it can bring you onwards on your quest."

"Thank you." Kamili smiled, walking down the stairs from the house heading down the long driveway to the street where her Audi was parked as she didn't want to drive through the gates as she had arrived.

Walking from the building, Kamili had her nose in the diary, not wanting to waste any time as she walked down towards her car, completely focused on the content of the book instead of her surroundings. Had she looked up for even a moment, she would've noticed the motorcycle that was waiting for her down the street, hiding in the darkness. As Kamili walked down the long driveway the driver of the motorcycle threw something over the fence and then accelerated off into the night. Kamili looked up as she heard the motorcycle and she did see something sail through the air, but she did not have enough time to react before she was thrown backwards from a blast.

She laid on her back for a moment, staying still as she tried to understand what had just happened. Was that a bomb? Gingerly feeling through her body to make sure it was still in one piece she rolled, moving up to rest on her elbows before stumbling to her feet. There was no noise except the loud ringing in her ears, and she could feel the adrenaline rush through her body. She tried looking down towards the street, one hand searching for the holster and the gun, but she was not able to see who had thrown the bomb due to the fire by the gate. The hand searching for the gun soon moved to her chest instead and she felt herself stumble, losing balance, going down to one knee as she felt the chest pain wash over her, her heart beating its way out. Seeing the black dots in front of her eyes as she became lightheaded, she sat down on the driveway, hand towards her face as she closed her eyes, fighting to stay conscious.

"Mrs. Diallo?!"

Kamili couldn't hear them but she could see the Millers in front of her, both of them kneeling on the asphalt in front of her, trying to get a response. Kamili's ears was still ringing too loudly for her to be able to hear anything, but she did reach a very shaky hand into the inner pocket of her jacket, fishing up Kelly's business card, handing it to Mr. Miller. He nodded, and disappeared while Mrs. Miller stayed close to Kamili, searching her body for burns and trying to talk to her.

Kamili tried to fight her body, coughing hard to stay awake as well as she fought her hardest to force her heart back to normal rate. Her whole body felt like it was fighting against her, and she knew she had to stay strong, but it was getting difficult. Her head was swimming and her vision blurry, and no matter how hard Kamili fought to stay awake, darkness soon washed over her and her limp body slid down into Mrs. Miller's lap.

* * *

"She's in exam room 4." Martha smiled, waving Kelly through as she ran in, and Kelly smiled gratefully as she continued inside, giving the door a knock before peeking inside, relief washing over her as she found her Angel sitting up on a gurney, looking tired but alright. Mark and a nurse were next to her, Mark listening to Kamili's lungs but stopping as Kelly entered.

"Hey Kelly, I'm fine!" Kamili said, very loudly, shrugging her shoulders.

Kelly didn't believe her for a second, turning to Mark.

"She is alright, you can take her home with you in a moment. As we got her here, she was hyperventilating, and her heart was in v-tach, but we helped her to control it and all vitals have almost returned to normal."

Mark picked up the otoscope, showing it to Kamili who nodded, leaning her head a bit as Mark looked into her ears.

"Hearing is a bit reduced, as you can tell, but it's coming back more and more." Mark said, moving around to Kamili's other ear, looking for a bit before he continued to talk, turned to Kamili, giving her a thumb up. "Eardrums look alright, and there appears to be no other blast injuries. She'll be sore for a few days but nothing else that we can see."

Kelly nodded, turning back to her friend who had been watching Kelly and Mark closely, trying to hear what they said.

"What happened?"

"Someone threw a bomb towards me, but I don't think they aimed to kill though. The person came on a motorcycle, threw the bomb over the gate up towards the driveway and sped off. Had he or she wanted to kill me they should've waited until I was further down the driveway, I was still quite far off. It was just a small bomb, just enough to throw me backwards, and the adrenaline kicked my heart and the heart kicked my self-confidence." Kamili said, starting very loudly but lowering her voice as both Kelly and Mark gestured to her.

"Did someone have a look at that heart of yours?" Kelly asked loudly, turning to look between Mark and Kamili, her hand brushing Kamili's upper arm.

"The on-call cardiologist had a look and said it looked alright once it calmed down." Mark answered, turning between Kelly and Kamili. "It's okay for now, but I think we should try to get Kamili out of the dangerous, adrenaline-pumping situations."

"I'll do my best." Kamili smiled, Mark returning the smile.

"I understand it's not very easy though as people throw bombs at you." Mark said, concerned. "Why would they do that if not to kill?"

"Someone was probably trying to scare her." Kelly said, turning to Kamili who nodded.

"Yeah, most likely. They don't know me very well." Kamili said, her face turning into a grin. "That didn't scare me, but it did piss me off."

"Let's get you home." Kelly said with a chuckle, happy to see her Angel in such a good mood even after almost being killed.

"Let us know if there's anything." Mark said. "If you start feeling sick or anything just come back in, okay?"

"Thank you, Mark." Kamili smiled as the doctor and nurse disappeared, leaving the women alone.

"You sure you feel alright?" Kelly asked, tensing her eyes as she knew just how good her Angels were at hiding things such as injuries.

"I'm fine Kelly, just got knocked senseless."

"Okay. I'll take you home. In the morning we meet up with Kris and Hank and see if we can tie it all together."

"Sounds good to me. Could we just go past the Millers on the way, pick up my car? I also want to make sure they are alright. I was just a tiny bit unconscious when I left their place."

Kelly sighed, rolling her eyes, but nodding, a hand on Kamili's back as they walked out of the room.

* * *

_Tuesday, August 20__th__, 1985_

"What happened yesterday Angels? Kamili?"

Kamili sighed as she looked over towards the speaker box, knowing Charlie was worried about her. She didn't want to be that weak person, but she also knew there was absolutely no use in hiding anything from her coworkers. Were anything to happen, they really needed to know everything. But first things first. At the moment she was in an armchair next to the desk, Madison, Kris and Hank Donner from the CIA in the couches and Sandra in the armchair next to her. Kelly was as always behind them, behind the desk.

"Well I met up with the parents of Ava Miller and Sophie Brown. They told me about their daughters, likes and dislikes. Sophie Brown was that timid, shy girl who didn't get on anyone's' nerves, just stayed in the background. It was three years ago since she disappeared, and her mother is a wreck. She used to work for the Prospect as a freelance photographer." Kamili said. "Then there was Ava Miller. Different story, she thought herself to be a witch from an early age. She would do potions and spells, very involved in the witch community, but would also not hesitate to tell outsiders about the secrets. Her parents had heard people talk about her, talk about other witches being angry with her for spreading their classified information."

"Ava Miller was the first one to disappear, three years ago. Sophie Brown shortly after her. Then Anna Jackson disappeared. She was a sweet and happy girl, had studied ecology and worked as a freelance writer for the Prospect." Kelly said before continuing. "Then there was Olivia Wilson. Also a sweet girl apparently, spent her whole life looking for that sister than she never had and ended up amongst the witches from her love of nature. She was as an editor, and she would help out at, yeah you guessed it, the Prospect."

"So everyone was involved in the witch community, and all of them except the first woman was involved with the Prospect. There's no question that they're connected." Sandra said, her eyebrow up.

"Yeah." Kamili said. "My thought is that Ava Miller pissed off enough people or the wrong people, to get herself killed. Then Sophie, Anna, Olivia and Alicia all found out about it and threatened to publish the story, whereupon they where killed as well. Someone doesn't want this story out."

"It probably went out of hand." Kris said. "The Unsub killed one person who she or he thought to be ruining the community. Then people keep finding out and has to be disposed off as well. The more people being killed, the more attention to the case, and the more people has to die. This killer will not stop, it will be a snowball effect."

"What's an unsub?" Madison asked carefully.

"Unknown, or sometimes the unidentified, subject. In this case the killer, the subject whose crimes we investigate." Kris answered, smiling gently to her. It was easy to forget that she was on her first case still.

"Like a suspect?"

"No, not really." Kris said, looking over to Hank for help with an explanation.

"We who investigate know the identity of the suspect, it's someone we met, have in for questioning, keeping our eyes upon. While a suspect is someone we _think_ is involved in the crimes, the unsub is who we _know_ committed the crime, but whose identity is still unknown to us. Does that make sense?" Hank asked, looking at Madison and then between the others.

"It does, thank you." Madison smiled. "Please proceed."

"Agent Munroe mentioned snowball effect." Hank continued, gesturing to Kris for a moment. "The killer probably can't see a way out and that would make him or her desperate. Now they could do anything as they don't have anything to lose anymore, and that makes them very dangerous."

"Kamili, what happened when you left the Millers?" Charlie asked calmly in the phone.

Sandra frowned towards Kamili, who waved it off.

"Don't worry. But as I was walking to my car, not paying much attention to my surroundings at all, someone on a motorcycle drove past and threw a bomb in my direction." Kamili said, continuing straight away as she heard the room inhale sharply. "But it was thrown on quite a distance and not very powerful, just enough to knock me over but not close enough to injure."

"You okay?" Sandra asked, sitting forwards in her chair, a hand on Kamili's knee.

"I'm absolutely fine, I said don't worry."

"Talk to them." Kelly said, her voice stern as Kamili turned her head over her shoulder to look at her. "Your co-workers need to know so that they are prepared in a similar situation."

Kamili rolled her eyes, not sure where to look she took the safe way out and turned to Sandra, her blue eyes open wide in worry.

"The adrenaline and blast got my heart going and I eventually passed out. The Millers called Kelly and an ambulance, Mark and a cardiologist looked me over, all good to go home."

"What's the matter with your heart?" Hank asked carefully, worried about his old friend. When the two of them had gotten to know each other, she was one of the strongest he knew.

"I was shot with an arrow years ago, making the heart very weak. 8 months ago I was beaten up to the point where I had a heart attack. The heart attack has caused v-tach, which is a type of arrhythmia, speeding up the heart rate. Adrenaline and v-tach are not best of friends, it would seem."

"You really have been busy the last years." Hank said, Kamili turning to him.

"Well at least it will get me out of ever having to do service again."

"You served together?" Sandra asked. "Is that how you know each other?"

"Yeah. Kamili was the rookie, the young and inexperienced girl of the group, but she ended up saving all our butts out there. I would not sit here today if It weren't for her."

"She's saved all of us at different times." Kelly smiled, Kamili rolling her eyes.

"Not Madison. But it's just the first case, I'll get there." Kamili grinned, winking to Madison. "I'm just making sure that you all owe me."

Sandra giggled, she if anyone knew that Kamili used the phrase '_but I saved your life' _along with puppy eyesevery time she wanted anything. It didn't matter if she wanted a favor or just the last piece of cake. And of course it worked as a charm every time.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sandra asked, Kamili nodding to her. "What kind of bomb was it?"

"Well everyone was called out of course, the police, fire department and eventually the bomb squad. They think it was something homemade, made in a glass bottle. They were not sure exactly what it was as most of it was ruined, but it made me think of a witch mixing a potion. Maybe it's farfetched."

"And maybe it isn't, considering what kind of case we're on." Kelly said, the others turning to her, agreeing.

"What kept you so occupied that you didn't see that motorcycle?" Sandra asked, frowning. Kamili was usually very observant.

"Ava's diary."

"Oh! Have you found anything interesting in it?" Madison exclaimed excited.

"I haven't had time to sit down with it yet. Kelly and I went back to the Millers after the hospital visit, found the book and made sure that the Millers were alright. They were a bit relieved I think to see me walking. Headed home from there I just went to bed. I woke, had a few hours with Yasmin and Morgan just relaxing and then went back to bed. Feel much better today but I think I needed that rest. I will sit with it now though."

"There's a witch meeting tonight." Madison said changing the subject.

"Janet and I will go again. I won't let them chase me off, I'll pretend that the two aren't connected."

"I don't like it Kamili." Charlie said through the phone.

"I know. But it needs to be done. We will stick together at all time and we won't stay out late."

"And be darn careful."

"I came by yesterday and picked up the copy of Alicia's diary as you told me to and took it down to our coders. They will have that thing decoded in a jiffy, probably by the end of the day. I will get back to you as soon as I can."

"Thank you for helping out Hank. It means a lot to us."

"Anytime Kam." Hank said. "Have you guys had time to go through the pictures and information we got?"

"Yeah, but we haven't been able to tie anything together yet." Kelly said. "There is a few that no one managed to find the name of, one of them is the girl who was around the table when Madison got sick."

"Josie, right?" Madison asked, Kelly nodding, rummaging through the pile of pictures on her desk, finding the picture of the woman dressed in black, big hair, heavy make-up and loads of jewelry.

"Josie?" Kris chuckled, rolling her eyes a bit.

"What?" The others asked, looking over to her with question in their eyes.

"Oh, nothing, sorry. They have been showing reruns of Josie and the Pussycats and the twins loves it, they want to watch it all the time. The theme song is kinda catchy."

"I haven't seen it." Sandra confessed, the non-American of the group feeling left out.

"_Josie and the Pussycats__, __long tails and ears for hats__. __Guitars and sharps and flats__, n__eat, sweet, a groovy song__, __you're invited, come along." _Kris sang, dancing a little bit to the music.

"_Hurry hurry!" _Kamili, Kelly, Madison and Hank all joined in, laughing loudly afterwards, shaking their heads, Sandra rolling her eyes at them.

Giggles were heard all around, Kelly and Kris' eyes meeting as it was only yesterday that Kelly had walked in on Kris and the twins happily shaking their butts to the theme song of the show. It had been a beautiful sight to watch the little family of three just enjoying themselves.

"Anyway." Kelly grinned, turning back to the matter at hand. "We don't even have her real name."

"I'll see if I can find out something about her tonight." Kamili said, nodding to Kelly. "Carefully."

"Good."

"Well, if that's it, I need to get moving. Let me know if there's anything I can do. Otherwise I'll be in touch when we got the diary back." Hank said, getting to his feet, nodding to the ladies before leaving the room.

"I'll take off too, I'll head to the Prospect. If the killer is there, he or she should start becoming nervous soon." Sandra said, beginning to gather her things together.

"Nervous people make mistakes." Charlie said, all angels agreeing.

"You go, I'll follow in a bit." Madison smiled.

"How are you doing at your other job?" Kris asked, smiling as she turned to Madison.

"It's great fun actually. I was always the practical one in groups of friends. I enjoy being the problem solver, fixing whatever people are asking me to do."

"Well it's a great cover, one you might get to revisit in the future." Kelly smiled.

"So you're not angry with me for taking off alone?"

"Oh, I don't hold a grudge towards my Angels. But don't ever go off alone again without checking in with me first. Next time I might not be so lenient, and you might not be so lucky. If a cover is blown…"

"People could get killed." Sandra added, fiddling with her keychain for a second before sighing, smiling to them all before getting to her feet. "I'll talk to you all later. Call me after that meeting Kam."

"Will do sweetie." Kamili said, following Sandra with her eyes as Sandra walked outside.

"I'll go too, I'll join her to the cars." Kris said, grabbing her bag and hurrying after Sandra.

Kris saw Sandra disappear with fast steps down the stairs as she walked out of the room and by the time Kris got down to the street, Sandra was already in her car, face buried in her hands. Kris sighed, walking around the car and getting into the passenger seat, making Sandra jump.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Kris said, a gentle hand towards Sandra's upper arm, smiling gently to her. "And don't worry, it's okay to cry. I wasn't fortunate enough to have gotten to know Melissa, but it was still such a tragic loss."

"It's just like… It's all repeating itself; you know. A murdered writer? The killer is probably within the magazine's staff. Only thing missing is that they were killed by poison. I- I just remember that case too well. And I keep remembering finding her on the floor, dying. If I had gotten there sooner-"

"You might've been killed as well. Or both of you had been killed at a later time. But you know there's no use dwelling on the past, you have to look forward. Both you and I know this, we can't look back like that, our brains can't handle it."

"You're right." Sandra nodded, brushing the tears off her cheeks. "You're right. There's no use, it will not bring her back. The only thing it will do is send me down the wrong slope again."

"And we don't want that. You should've told Kelly about you not feeling comfortable taking this case."

"Yeah, I know, I just thought it would be alright. It's been a while now and meeting with Mary…"

"It will flash back now and then. Just, don't shut the others out. No one will see you as weak or anything else because of your emotions. You know this, you have a great gang around you."

"I do know that. But sometimes a girl has to be reminded." Sandra smiled, reaching over to give Kris a hug. Kris wrapped her arms around her, pulling her tight.

"We all do. You're always welcome past my office as well if you ever need to talk to someone outside the agency."

"Thank you, Kris."

"No worries. You feel better?"

"Yeah. I do, I promise."

"Okay. Take care Sandra, I'll see you later."

Sandra nodded as Kris got out of the car and got into her own, leaving the parking lot. Sandra took a couple of deep breaths before taking off as well, heading to the Prospect, wondering how many more times she would be able to walk into the building before something would go down. Walking through the hallways she greeted all different people, photographers, writers, editors and she couldn't help but to wonder if someone of the them were the killer. She tried to discreetly see if someone was following her with their eyes and she couldn't help but to roll her eyes to herself. She was being paranoid. Sighing she sat down at her desk, picking up one of the old magazines and flipped through it, getting to Alicia's column.

* * *

_Do you know that someone cares about you? Do you know that you are important? _

'_Yes, of course' you say with a laugh, maybe rolling your eyes. But then you stop to think about it. If you suddenly left this Earth, would someone miss you? Your family? Your friends? _

_The world would miss you. The world will miss you when you go. Everything in connected in a tapestry that we all weave on every day and every single thread is connected to another. They are all needed to make that beautiful piece of art and if you pull out one thread you might just unravel the whole work. _

_People tend to think that they are not important. I am here to tell you that you are. You are very important. And if you don't believe me, ask the ones around you. Ask your friends. Feel as if you don't have any? That's not true. There are friends out there, maybe friends you haven't met in a long time, old childhood friends that you would never believe still care about you. But what if you look at it from another perspective. Close your eyes and look into your mind, remember the people you spent time with as a child. Would you care if you found out that they had passed? Sure you would. You would sit and look at old photos, read old letters, and wonder why you didn't reconnect with that person before it was too late. _

_I challenge You to write a letter to an old friend the minute you finished reading this. Write a letter, just letting them know that they are important, let them know that you are thinking of them, let them know that they are not alone in the world. _

'_Ridiculous,' you think. But is it really such a ridiculous idea? To let another person know that you're thinking of them. Maybe that person is down in a hole and not sure how to climb up. Maybe that person is sitting at home right now with a gun in their hands thinking about ending it all because no one cares anyway. Maybe your letter could save them from that dark abyss. _

_But maybe it's not that bad. Not everyone battles depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress or other horrible mindsets. Maybe there are some happy people out there. People who just laugh when those bad thoughts reach their minds because they know, within their soul, that the horrible things that their brain tells them, is not true. You are not alone. You are loved. You are important and someone, somewhere, is thinking of you at this precise moment, of that I'm certain. _

_I wish I was one of these people, one of those who could just set it all aside, laugh at my head and shrug it all off. I am not. I am definitely one of those who wonder if other care about me. But no matter what, I will always remember that I am important. _

_Alicia Jonas_

* * *

Smiling to herself, Sandra put the magazine back down to her desk. It was almost as if Alicia could read her mind through the columns and her mind instantly begun thinking about ideas for her own writing, for her own upcoming columns, then chuckling to herself as she realized that she was excited about a job that she didn't plan to keep.

Then, getting her determination back, she decided to at least write down the ideas in case they would be stuck here for a long time, and maybe her head would feel a bit better if she kept writing down whatever she felt and whatever popped into her mind.

Rummaging her desk looking for her notebook, she suddenly realized that the draft about the four missing women was not where she had put it yesterday. Rummaging through her whole desk, flipping through all her files and papers, she soon concluded that it was gone.


	18. Chapter 17 - Birthday Girl

**Chapter 17**

_Wednesday, August 21st, 1985_

* * *

"How was the meeting yesterday Kam?" Kelly asked as she walked into the office, bags with take-out food in her hands as her Angels all gathered around the bar, taking their order from Kelly, all of them sitting around on the bar stools.

"Oh, it was beyond boring. Janet and I only stayed for about two hours, ate and talked to people, but there were a lot of whom I believe to be the regular who wasn't there, not sure why. It was not much people there at all. We talked to some of them about food and lifestyle choices but we both decided that it was better to just head home early." Kamili said, shrugging her shoulders as she was sitting in the armchair.

"You're not upset that you weren't attacked right?" Madison grinned as she walked inside.

They had all been out during the morning, Sandra and Madison at the Prospect, working early to meet up with Kelly and Kamili for lunch. Kamili and Kelly had been gathering up everything they had, laying it out on the tables in the office, trying to get some thread through it all. They had a pile of photos, with all information from the CIA and the FBI attached to them along with their own research. They had the notebooks, the paper clippings, magazines, photographs, Ava's diary which Kamili was still reading, and all the things spread out was the reason to why they were eating by the bar.

"It was really boring there." Kamili smiled, shrugging her shoulders while digging into her food. "But going home early I did have time to read her diary some more. It's mostly stuff about making your own potions, ideas for different spells, notes and thoughts she wanted to remember. So far, she hasn't mentioned other witches by name, but I will keep reading it."

"Did you find out anything about Josie?"

"No, not really. She wasn't there. I asked around a bit about her, but people seem to distance themselves from her a bit. A few other women seemed to be a bit scared to talk about her. She can apparently be a bit crazy, making me wonder if it's her Alicia has been writing about when writing about the crazies amongst the witches."

"Maybe. We need to find out some more evidence before we take it to court though." Kelly sighed.

The four women ate in silence for a moment before Sandra chuckled.

"Humans really are creatures of habit, right?"

"What do you mean?" Kelly asked, rolling the noodles around her chopsticks.

"We have a whole building to sit in. There is a kitchen table downstairs and there are living room areas there as well. And still, we sit here in our little bar."

"We will have to start eating downstairs, otherwise that's just a waste of rent." Kelly laughed.

"Next time." All angels joined in.

"How are things at our favorite magazine?" Kamili asked, looking over to Madison and Sandra.

"You know how I wrote a draft about our four missing women?" Sandra said, her eyebrow up as the others nodded. "Well someone took it. It's missing."

"What? That's not suspicious at all." Kamili said sarcastically.

"I know, right? Well now I know they know so I will definitely be on guard for whatever may show up. I have a feeling it's going to go down very soon."

"I believe so too." Madison said. "I overheard two women, graphic designers I think, talking about a third woman. They kept saying how she had changed, her personality seemed different, she seemed much more stressed, her behaviour changing quite a bit. I couldn't figure out who they were talking about though, but I plan on hanging out more in their area to hopefully get more clues."

"They were talking about a she at least?" Kamili asked, Madison nodded.

"There are so many women working at the office." Sandra said, finishing off her food. "If we could just find one woman who might have a connection to the witch community."

"We do all agree that those two much be connected?" Kelly asked, looking around.

"They must be." Kamili said, pushing away her empty box with take away as well. "I know we said in the beginning that a witch would not burn another witch but I do belive that a witch would burn another to throw suspicion off."

"I think you're right." Kelly agreed.

"In one of the columns Alicia mentioned drugs as well. It's not impossible that the killer was high, maybe hallucinating, seeing and thinking that there was real witchcraft involved." Sandra said.

"That's definitely a possibility." Kelly said. "I will keeping going through all the files, read up on the people from the magazine to see if someone has a connection to the witches. I'll also keep eyeing through the diary. You guys should be taking off soon, right?"

"As soon as Madison is finished." Kamili smiled, watching Madison push the last pieces of chicken into her mouth, nodding.

"I'm done."

"No talking with your mouth full." Kamili said, her stern mother voice on for a moment before she laughed, Madison swallowing hard before laughing as well.

"Sorry mama."

"Come on, let's head off. We'll see you tomorrow Kelly. You know where to find us if you need anything."

"Sure. Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Kamili laughed for a moment, rolling her eyes before she suddenly realized something and twirled to Madison. "You are coming, right?"

Madison smiled, nodding, happy to be invited, before the three of them headed out of the office. Kelly smiled, moving herself to the couch as the three angels walked outside.

Getting into the different cars, they all headed to their respective homes to get a shower and a change of clothes, Sandra walked and fed her dogs, cuddling her cat and catching up with the parrot. Her neighbor would be looking them all over tonight and tomorrow morning, but Sandra still hated leaving her pets. All three angels finishing up at their respective homes, they got into separate taxis and met up at a walking distance from Janet's house. Giggly, the three detectives were not very subtle as they sneaked around back of Janet's house, climbing over the fence, planning to surprise her.

They had of course forgotten all about Raven.

The massive rottweiler came jumping into the air, a loud bark sounded as a warning just as Sandra was halfway over the fence, and she fell over with a yelp. Upon seeing who the intruder was, Raven instantly changed and lowered her front body to the ground, inviting Sandra to play. Sandra was on her back, laughing loudly.

"Sandra, you dead? Did Raven eat you up?" Kamili hollered down, sitting on top of the fence, holding onto it while laughing hard, Madison giggling loudly next to her, peaking over the top.

"Yes, I'm being kissed to death!" Sandra laughed as Raven's tongue happily licked Sandra's face.

"You're very loud, for being sneaky detectives."

Kamili looked up with a wide smile towards Janet who was standing a few feet away, baby in her arms, staring at her friends with a questioning eyebrow.

"What are you up to?"

"Happy birthday!" Kamili laughed as she jumped down from the fence, Madison following suit, Raven happy as she danced around the angels while Kamili offered Sandra a hand up.

"Oh no, I hoped you had forgotten about that." Janet sighed, but with a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Of course not." Sandra laughed. "We have the evening planned."

Janet raised an eyebrow as Devin walked outside, holding a bag for her that he had packed earlier. Now he held it out for her, in exchange for their son. "I get to spend some quality time with my son. You go out and have fun."

Janet laughed, giving the boy a good cuddle before leaving him over to Devin, giving her man a quick kiss. She hadn't really been without her boy since he came, and the thought made her feel slightly sick to her stomach but knowing her friends she knew she would have a great evening.

And it didn't take long before they were all in a taxi, heading towards the first stop of the evening, which appeared to be a hotel, one of the nicer ones in town. Janet gave a whistle as the four girls walked inside, Kamili walking up to the desk.

"Hi, we have reservations for the night in the name of Diallo."

Not long after, the four girls were shown to the top floor, doors opening to a beautiful suite. The four of them walked around the place, taking it all in before finding the bedroom, dropping their bags in the beds. There were two single beds and one really big king-sized bed in the room.

"There's only three beds." Kamili said. "I ordered four."

"Oh, that's alright, Janet and I have shared plenty of beds before."

"I knew the two of you were getting it on." Kamili laughed. "Coming out of the closet, are we?"

Sandra's face flushed red. "No, I only meant sleeping!"

"Yes, yes, whatever you say." Kamili grinned. "You take the big bed but no hanky-panky while Mads and I are in the room."

"We'll keep it down." Janet laughed, Sandra still embarrassed, but getting over it she begun to chuckle.

"Okay, I'll try to keep my hands off but no promises." She chuckled, shrugging her shoulders.

Kamili grinned at her two friends, before looking down at her watch. "Oh, girls. We need to get a move on if we are to make it to the jacuzzi and sauna before it's time for our massages."

All her friends' faces lit up and soon they were heading down towards the spa area, giggly and happy to have a relaxing day off, just the four of them.

* * *

A few hours later, they had all been swimming in the pool area, enjoyed the jacuzzi and sauna and also got an hour-long massage, followed by acupuncture and a visit with the chiropractor, getting their bodies loose and nice. Very relaxed, they headed back up to the room, playing cards while they took turns in the showers, changing into fancier clothes, and headed out for dinner. Coming up to La Bonne Cuisine, they sat down at the VIP-table and enjoyed the fabulous French cuisine that Aurore was becoming famous for. Not having to order as Aurore already knew what they liked, their food consisted of fresh produce, cooked to perfection, Kamili's following her diet, Sandra's being vegetarian, Madison's duck being very strong in flavors and Janet's being a perfect coq-a-vin. All of it served with wine fitting perfectly.

As dessert arrived, the head chef brought it out herself, still dressed in her white jacket and chef's hat on top of her head, not singing as she knew Janet would've probably killed them with the spoon for putting her in the center of everyone's attention.

Placing the beautiful cake down to the table, it was easy to see that Aurore had begun her career in pastry, mostly famous for her beautifully decorated cakes. This one was absolutely no exception with its black handmade roses, and they all stared at it with big eyes as Aurore grinned before sabering open a champagne bottle.

All of them applauded and cheered her on before saluting with their glasses, clinking them together while once again wishing Janet a happy birthday.

* * *

As the wee hour of the nights creeped in, they all found themselves on the dance floor, having moved from the restaurant to The Upstairs. The music in the club was loud and the multicolored lights twirling in the roof, and all girls were happily rocking it out on the dance floor. They had been dancing for a while, planning to take a break but _"oh just this song!"_ kept being repeated every time the DJ changed the was just so many good songs and neither one of them wanted to miss out.

The volume was loud, the base shaking the whole place, there were a lot of people all huddled together on the dance floor, the smell of sweat and alcohol very distinct but people were drunk enough to not notice.

All angels were enjoying themselves, wide smiles on their lips as they moved their bodies around. None of them had been clubbing for ages as there just hadn't been time for it. But between all the bad things that went on at work, they finally found some time now to just let loose and not care about tomorrow, just for a little while. With their bodies just listening to the music they could allow themselves to be in the moment and don't think about other worries. As Michael Jackson's song Thriller slowly faded out it gave them all a second to breathe, smiling towards each other through the dim but colorful lights, laughing, before they could hear Freddie Mercury's voice across the speakers and the whole dance floor lit up again as an inferno.

_Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time  
__I feel alive and the world I'll turn it inside out, yeah  
__And floating around in ecstasy  
__So don't stop me now don't stop me  
__'Cause I'm having a good time, having a good time_

Everyone on the dance floor went into sort of a trance at the sound of Freddie's incredible voice, and the massive crowd moving along with the music down on the floor sends the whole night club into a frenzy. There was certainly something special about this music, nothing could really get a crowd going as Queen could.

_I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky  
__Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity  
__I'm a racing car, passing by like Lady Godiva  
__I'm gonna go, go, go  
__There's no stopping me_

Kamili could feel the sweat on her body as she moved around, having had just enough alcohol to not notice the signs that she should calm down until it was too late. The room suddenly swayed, and somewhere through the fog she could hear Sandra call her name. She couldn't answer her though, and the darkness was surrounding her before she had time to stop it.

The next thing she knew, she was being dragged through the crowd, off the floor by strong arms and fast legs, her own legs not really taking her weight and her eyes not wanting to open fully, all while the music faded off in the background. She could feel her arms draped over two other people's shoulders, hands holding tightly to her wrists, arms across her lower back, holding onto her belt, pulling her across the floor down the hallway. Her head was hanging forwards, down towards her chest and she forced her eyes opened slightly, but immediately got nauseas as the floor was moving rapidly. Somewhere between her own heartbeats and the ringing in her ears, she could hear the faint voice of Freddie.

_Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time  
__I'm having a ball  
__Don't stop me now  
__If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call  
__Don't stop me now ('cause I'm having a good time)  
__Don't stop me now (yes, I'm havin' a good time)  
__I don't want to stop at all_

"Take her in here."

Kamili could distinguish Aurore's voice all of a sudden, close by, but she was not alert enough to show any reaction to her old friend's voice while her other friends pulled her along. She could hear them mumbling, but she couldn't make out what they were saying, the whole world blurred into a misty fog.

She suddenly felt how she was carefully lowered down and soon touched a soft couch, and she could feel strong hands move her body around, so that she was lying on her side, a hand under her head, a knee up, keeping her in the recovery position. Becoming more and more alert, Kamili tried to focus on her breathing.

It was quiet in there. The lights were dim. A wave of fresh, cool air hit her as someone opened a window. Someone was sitting down next to her hip, taking her arm and placing two fingers against her wrist, another hand gently rubbing her back. A cold cloth suddenly touched her face, moving over to her neck, upper back and chest. Kamili carefully tried to open her eyes again, instantly met by Janet's face, her dark eyes full of worry.

"Hey, are you back with us?"

Kamili nodded carefully, trying to focus on Janet's eyes instead of the pain in her chest and the way her heart fluttered. Janet gently wiped her face again with the cold cloth, allowing her to take her time.

"Does your chest hurt?"

Kamili nodded quietly, swallowing hard while closing her eyes again for a moment. She had been taught something called the valsalva maneuver by her cardiologist, and she tried her hardest to perform it, not really managing but slowly getting there. She could feel her heart beginning to calm down a little, but it was still racing out of her chest.

"Sweetie."

Kamili opened her eyes and saw a glass of water in front of her. Janet held it for her and helped her drink through the straw before closing her eyes again, breathing heavily.

"Kamili, how are you doing? Do we need to call for help, or drive you to the hospital?" Janet asked, her voice calm and quiet while she kept wiping Kamili off with the cold cloth.

"No." Kamili breathed. "Just... give me a moment."

The room lay dead quiet for another two-three minutes as Kamili just focused on her breathing, the chest pain finally subsiding, her breathing returning to normal.

"Pulse is slowing down." Sandra said calmly, relieved. She had almost been able to feel Kamili's pulse without touching her earlier as it had been so rapid.

Kamili looked towards Sandra, her hand moving out to hold her wrist, and Sandra caught her in a Roman handshake, helping her up into sitting position, allowing Kamili to look around freely, noticing that they all were in Aurore's office in the back of the restaurant. Sandra sat next to her in the couch, Janet who was on the floor moved up to Kamili's other side. Aurore was leaning back against her desk, still wearing the chef's jacket but her hat was off, arms crossed over her chest, Madison standing in the background, not really knowing what to do.

Kamili took the glass from Janet's hand, drinking it slowly to make sure it didn't come back up again. Taking a few deep breaths, she looked up at Janet while leaning back in the couch.

"What happened?"

"You fainted, we caught you as you tipped over. Do you remember anything?"

"I was just enjoying dancing, then it all got blurry."

"Well, no more alcohol for you." Aurore sighed in the background, the others agreeing.

"I didn't drink that much. A glass of champagne, a glass of wine and one drink. I think it was just all things combined." Kamili whispered. "Alcohol for the first time in ages, the loud music, the heat down on the dance floor..."

"... that stupid heart of yours." Sandra added, a knuckle rubbing Kamili's sternum. Kamili looked up at her, smiling gently, before putting her head down on Sandra's shoulder, Sandra chuckling as she got her face full of Kamili's afro curls.

"You were supposed to take it easy, remember you were almost blown up day before yesterday. You should've told us you were not up for this." Janet said gently.

"But I was up for this. I've felt fine all day, maybe sore and stiff but heart has felt fine since I left the hospital on Monday. I just… I just didn't notice it in time. I'm sorry for scaring you guys."

"Let's get back to the hotel room." Sandra suggested, rubbing Kamili's back. "We can get popcorn and watch a movie until we fall asleep, and then in the morning we get the hotel breakfast before we have to go back to work."

"Sounds like a great idea." Janet nodded."I vote for renting Back to The Future. They say it's good."

"Good choice, I haven't had time to see that." Sandra said, looking between Kamili and Janet.

"I'll drive you." Aurore offered. "I was heading home anyway."

"Thanks." Sandra smiled to Aurore before turning her head towards Kamili. "Are you okay to move?"

"Yeah." Kamili said tiredly, allowing Sandra and Janet to help her to her feet, holding her for a few seconds before making their way out to the car.

* * *

Arriving back to the hotel room, all girls changed into sleepwear. Kamili crawled down into the big double bed while Sandra made two big bowls of popcorn, Madison got them all some sodas and water and Janet started up the hotel room's video player. Soon all four of them were cuddled down in the large bed, happily, drunkenly eating popcorn and watching the TV excitedly as the movie started. Sandra, who was squished down between Kamili and Janet offered Kamili popcorn but realized that she was already sleeping before all the clocks started ticking in Doc's house, not even reacting as Marty McFly blew up the amplifier.

As the movie finished, Janet turned the TV off. Madison rolled out of bed and headed into the bathroom, soon followed by Janet and then Sandra. As Sandra emerged from the bedroom the others had already crawled back down into the beds, drifting off to sleep. It was very late, and they had all had a long day. Sandra could feel a warm, fuzzy feeling in her heart as she looked through her glasses at the scene in front of her. Madison had crawled down and was already snoring lightly in one of the single beds, Janet next to Kamili. Sandra squeezed herself in next to Kamili on the other side of her, putting her glasses away and turned the lights off.

"I thought you'd prefer the single bed, that's why I laid down here." Janet offered, looking up over the sleeping angel in the middle of the bed.

"I know. I... I just want to be close to her tonight." Sandra said quietly, laying her head close to Kamili's shoulder. "She scared me."

"I know. She scared me too, I hate seeing her so vulnerable."

"I want the old, powerful Kamili back."

"She's coming, I'm sure of it. Well just help her out for a while." Janet smiled, putting her head down deep into her pillow. "Now, try to get some sleep sweetie. Do you still take your meds?"

"I normally do but I don't want to take them together with alcohol."

"I'm sorry if you felt pressured to drink just because we did."

"That's alright. I know I'm safe in your company, and to be honest I didn't drink that much, I just had a glass of champagne and a glass of wine."

"Trust me when I say we will all let you know if you begin to slip."

"I don't plan to do that. My head is in a much better place now." Sandra smiled, yawning. "Did you have a good birthday, all things considered?"

"I absolutely did. Thank you so much."

"Next year is the big three zero."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Janet said, closing her eyes, drifting off to sleep with a smile on her lips.


	19. Chapter 18 - Lunch

**Chapter 18**

_Thursday, August 22nd, 1985_

As the morning rose, Kamili woke up, a bit disorientated. She could feel a heavy weight on top of her and opening her eyes fully she realized she had two friends snuggling very close to her. She had Sandra's head on her shoulder, her nose in the soft curve of Kamili's neck, and Sandra's arm across her chest, hand placed above Kamili's heart. Janet had her forehead pressed towards Kamili's other shoulder, hand on top of it. Kamili couldn't help but to smile to herself, feeling very loved.

The bathroom door suddenly opened, and Kamili turned her head to meet Madison's smile, her long hair wrapped in a towel, her slim body already dressed for the day.

"Good morning." Kamili smiled. "Sleep well?"

"Like a rock. Do you feel alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What time is it?"

"Quarter to 9."

"Good. I'll take a shower and then we'll see if we can wake these two up." Kamili said, gently moving Sandra's hand away and wormed her way out of bed, Sandra's head dropping down towards her pillow as Kamili moved, both Sandra and Janet cuddling closer to each other as the heat source between them disappeared, but both of them fast asleep still. Kamili laughed, shaking her head at the two chipmunks in the bed.

"Thank you, Kam."

Kamili twirled towards Madison who was standing leaning against the wall, looking down to her feet, looking a bit nervous. Not understanding what she meant, Kamili put her head to its side, looking at her with curious eyes.

"For what?"

"For letting me tag along yesterday."

"Hey, of course. Why wouldn't we let you tag along? We enjoy your company."

"Yeah, it's just that, you know… The three of you are so close. I've never really had any close friends, I've always been an outsider, never really felt like home. It's not very often that people ask me to come with them. I just wanted to say thank you. It meant a lot to me that you wanted me there."

"All three of us wanted you there, you're part of the family now. We want to get to know you better and we want you to be part of the group. We want you to feel included. I know it's hard coming into a group that's already well established, and everyone knows each other, but we definitely have room for one more person."

"That makes me happy." Madison smiled, her exterior changing, showing more confidence.

"And hey, you're doing real good at the case as well, picking up fast on how to behave and what to do. Don't doubt yourself, you got a good head. Just keep doing what you're doing, and you'll be a great detective. We really need another set of good hands in the agency and I have a feeling that you will be just as awesome as we are."

"Thanks. It's a bit scary, not really knowing what will happen and what to expect of each day when you get out of bed."

"True, but that's also part of the charm with this job. Not a single day is like the other, there's always something going on, always something happening. Both good and bad but our good days certainly outweigh our bad days."

"That's good to know." Madison smiled, while unwrapping her hair from the towel, beginning to rub it dry. "I'm excited to be working but I'm even more excited to wrap up my first case. It's really the thrill of the chase, isn't it?"

"It is. There is no greater joy than to see the criminal you've been chasing end up behind bars, knowing that the streets suddenly became a little bit safer." Kamili smiled. "Anyway. I'm going to pop into the shower, then we wake these two up and we'll get on with our day. You can try to wake Sandra if you want but be careful around Janet. She sometimes takes a swing when being woken up, so watch out, don't let her hit you. I usually poke her with a broom."

* * *

An hour and a half later, they had all showered and walked down towards breakfast, all four of them loading up their plates with all sorts of stuff, all of them hungry and loving a buffet. It is something about hotel breakfasts making people manic amounts of food that they would normally never have for breakfast. Sitting down, happily eating away, they began talking about their upcoming day.

"How's your case going?" Janet asked while sipping her orange juice.

"Slow." Kamili sighed. "It's feels like we've been at it for ages now without getting anywhere. We spread everything out yesterday, I will go through it all, see if Kelly found anything of interest. There has to be a woman at the magazine who has a connection to the witches, we just gotta find it."

"Maybe Madison can solve it by reading their horoscopes." Sandra grinned. "She's really good at that stuff, guessed my sign straight away."

Madison looked down on her plate, her face red with embarrassment.

"No, don't be embarrassed." Sandra smiled; an apologetic hand placed on Madison's arm. "I was really impressed; I think it's really fascinating. You could read me like an open book, and we had only known each other for a few hours."

Madison smiled to Sandra, before realizing that Kamili was grinning towards her, nodding. Taking a breath, Madison put her head to its side for a moment. "Well. You know how to use your head to achieve what you desire. You don't like routines and you don't like other people trying to hurry you along, you work best after your own schedule. But you're truly down to earth, incredibly loyal, conscientious and you always finish what you started, in difference from your Gemini-friend right here."

Sandra giggled and raised her cup of coffee in a salute as Madison gestured towards her, before Madison kept going.

"Being a Taurus, you've got quite a big bulls head, but it's a creative head, full of logic and stubbornness, very imaginative but hard working and very critical, which I'm sure makes you a great detective."

Kamili smiled impressed, while Janet and Sandra nodded along.

"That sounds like our Kammy." Sandra laughed. "What have you found out about Janet?"

"Well, knowing the date of your birth makes it a little bit easier." Madison smiled. "Leo, sun and fire. Leo's are resourceful, honorable, like being in control and like it when people listen to them. You seek all challenges where you can put all your abilities to work, often take others under your wing, helping their self-consciousness. Sometimes seen though as rather strict and selfish, they can get blinded by their own motives and get very mad when they don't get what they want."

"See, I told you she's good." Sandra smiled, both Kamili and Janet nodding along, impressed. They had never dug deeper into the world of the Zodiacs, but they had a feeling that they would learn a lot about it from their new friend, knowing it was her specialty, and they were excited to learn more.

"What will you be doing today?" Madison said, changing the subject back, turning to Sandra.

"Well, I'm off to the magazine, I guess. Sit around and write, hope the killer knocks on my shoulder to give herself up." Sandra said, pouring way too much maple syrup on her pancakes, happy to have found some at the buffet. Cutting the pancakes and putting a piece in her mouth she sighed, turning to Kamili. "These are not as good as your pancakes."

Kamili grinned. "I'll make you pancakes again when we finished the case."

"Looking forward to it."Sandra smiled, happily eating away.

"Is it today you have that meeting with Martin?" Madison asked, looking up at Sandra.

"Yeah, we are having late lunch at that British pub a block from the Prospect at one o'clock."

"Is he off the list of suspects now?" Kamili asked and Sandra shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess. He doesn't seem to know the first thing about Wicca and all clues point to a woman. But I will be on my guard."

"I'll try to keep an eye on you." Madison smiled, Sandra smiling gratefully back.

"Thanks, it's always nice knowing someone has your back."

"You call us immediately if you see something odd, I'll be in the office all day." Kamili said, looking from Sandra to Madison. "I feel we are so close to the finish line now, and someone with bad intentions is definitely keeping their eyes on Sandra, on all of us really. We need to be very careful about how we proceed and keep each other informed. I don't want anyone getting hurt… again."

"That sounds like a plan." Sandra nodded. "Drugged, knocked out and a bomb is well enough."

"All in a day's work." Janet grinned. "I am so happy to have some time off. I can't wait to go back to my boy."

"You've been away from him for almost 24 hours. That's a new record, right?"

"Yeah, for sure. How do you do it when we are away on cases?" Janet laughed. "I feel like I'm losing it."

"It's never easy." Kamili said, smiling, thinking about her daughter. "But knowing Morgan is with her and knowing that he's a great dad makes it a bit easier. But you know that I do make a lot of long-distance calls when we're away."

"I've heard Kelly complain about the phone bills, yes." Janet laughed. "And now it's going to get even worse when there's two of us having to make phone calls."

"Oh, she makes calls too, so she knows it's worth the money." Sandra added, the other agreeing, eating in silence for a while before Sandra looked up again, observing Kamili who was sitting with a cup of coffee in both her hands, staring out the window, seemingly lost in thoughts.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Kamili twirled her head, realizing the others were looking at her.

"Oh, I just sat thinking about our missing women, mainly Ava. She sounded like such a sweet girl, just pushed the wrong person's nerves. She enjoyed her life, pleased with her little farm, her animals and produce. She really shouldn't have been a threat to anyone, but her mouth was too big, I guess. Someone overheard her spilling their secrets and that was enough to kill her."

"It's kinda scary just how little it takes to lose your life." Sandra said, nodding. "The wrong word to the wrong person."

"And sometimes you do everything right but someone else loses their mind and kill you anyway." Kamili said, shrugging your shoulders.

"Are you talking about Zeke Mount?" Madison asked, looking up to Kamili. She had been told the story but didn't know all the details.

"Yes." Kamili said, smiling gently to Madison. "A man who was a special agent for his entire life, unit chief at the FBI, solved hundreds of cases and saved so many lives. Until he changed around and started killing people, being so good at it that a lot of people had to lose their lives before we found out about his mental health. It just proves it could happen to anyone if we're not careful."

"But we'll keep an eye out for each other. We won't let that happen." Sandra smiled, the others agreeing with her, changing the subject again.

* * *

_As a writer, you hear about all sorts of crazy stories, mad plots that people make up and weird things that happen. As a writer, you just can't let a good story slip. You sit there with so many lovely women, listening to those crazy few that seem to have no grip on their lives. Those women who you look at and wonder, what went wrong? How can they just lose track of life and all sane things that goes with it? _

_Someone mentioned a name of a woman who used to be big part of the community several years ago. I remember her, I was younger then, not so involved or experienced in this little community, but I remember her. Anyone who ever set their foot here while she was around remembered her. She believed herself to be a witch. Not just one following the wiccan rules and way of living, but an actual magical woman. She believed she possessed gifts, that she had actual powers and that she could turn people into frogs. She believed she could fly so bad that she actually got on a broom and jumped from rooftops, breaking her arm in her attempts. More than once I think, to make it even crazier. She would also talk loudly and address everyone in the room, wanting everyone to know everything. _

_Most of us stick to ourselves and to the sisters within the community. We don't walk around on the streets and yell enchantments to strangers. People tend to think you're a bit odd when you do that. Most of us don't throw potions, we don't cast spells and we don't dance naked by the Capitol Hill in the moonlight because we want the spirits to be happy. _

_Most of us hold the belief that what's being said within these walls are secrets and should not be let out to the public. But she would tell anyone foolish enough to listen. She would tell anyone anything they wanted to know. She didn't think anything should be kept a secret. But we don't need people to know. There's no use for it. And most people out on the streets just think we're crazy. She was crazy, absolute nutter. But she was funny, and she was kind. Crazy, but kind. _

_And then one day she was just gone. Disappeared from the face of the Earth and no one ever heard from her again. It's been years. Some people are just waiting for her to return, one day she might just walk straight in through those doors again. _

_Or maybe someone killed her for having a mouth too big. _

_And as a writer, I don't want to miss out on a good story so I begun snooping around a little big, finding out that there are three more women who just seem to have disappeared, all three connected to the witches and all three were doing some sort of work for this precise magazine. _

_Maybe I should be on guard?_

_Alicia Jonas_

* * *

Madison put the magazine away, the words etched in her head. Alicia was definitely on the road to discovery, having had a distinct feeling of what had happened. Maybe not so detailed, but she was at least on the right track, and Madison felt that they were too. She sighed, getting to her feet and grabbing her toolbox she walked down the hallway of the Prospect, having gone here after their hotel breakfast, just heading home in between for a change of clothes and picking up her bike. She walked down the hallway, walking slowly but not slow enough to cause suspicion. She just wandered down, looking at door handles, light bulbs and other things that might be in need of a change. Cleaning up in the hallway, making sure everything looked alright and that everything was working.

"Rachel!"

Madison didn't realize it was her name that was being shouted at first and it took her a moment, before she turned around, smiling as she saw the other janitor, Lewis, move towards her.

"Hey."

"How is it going?" He asked, a wide smile on his face. He was so happy to have someone take part of the workload, and Madison was so glad that he was happy enough not to question anything.

"All right I think." Madison answered, nodding with a smile.

"Are you on your way to something?"

"No, just patrolling."

"We'll that's good. I am going up to the boss man's office to install a new thermostat and I thought you might want to tag along to see how it's done."

"Oh, I would love to." Madison nodded, Lewis smiling before guiding the two of them up to Martin Howard's office, knocking the door for a moment. Upon hearing an okay the two of them walked inside, smiling a bit to Martin.

"Hi there Lewis." Martin smiled happily.

"Hello there Sir. We're just going to get this thing changed, let us know if we're in your way."

"No, go ahead."

Lewis smiled gently to Martin before turning to the wall next to the door.

"I've turned the switch off already to this little darling, so you don't have to worry about getting hit." Lewis smiled, unhitching the lid of the room controller, opening it up to show Madison the wiring. Picking up an instrument he handed it to Madison.

"This is a multimeter. Ever used one of them?"

"No." Madison smiled, looking at the thing in her hand, a small display and two probes to use when measuring, one black and one red.

"We use it to measure electrical values, to see if there is any voltage, current or resistance. By using it we can make sure there is none of those mentioned where we put our fingers. And we always double check, even if the current is just at 24 volts."

Using the tool to make sure there was nothing that could injure her, Lewis then guided her in how she would proceed when unscrewing the wires from the unit, allowing her to take the little control unit off the wall and replacing it with the new one that Lewis handed her, screwing the wires into the new one in the same order as she had taken them out of the old.

While working, Madison kept an ear open towards the desk where Martin and his secretary were sitting, discussing all sorts of things, mainly the upcoming issue.

"You read it all through?" Martin asked, his eyes on a document.

"I did." The secretary said. "I took all the drafts from Eva that she liked, read it all through and marked the ones I didn't like. The unmarked ones are now back with Eva, but the marked ones are here of the desk, awaiting your opinion. As usual."

Madison couldn't help but to look over towards the woman by the desk. There was something so familiar about her, but Madison could not decide where she had met her before. She just knew that they had met but she could not pinpoint the location and time. At the witch meeting? No, she didn't meet that many women at the witch meeting and she was sure that she would recognize one of them immediately, but it really bugged her that she couldn't remember from where she knew this woman. Or was it perhaps just one resembling someone? That was not impossible. Maybe it was just the way this woman was talking and the way she was moving that was familiar.

"That's good Rachel." Lewis smiled, making Madison turn to him, turning her attention back to the job at hand. "Now you know how to do that. It was not so difficult, right?"

"No, it was rather straightforward." Madison smiled. "And it was fun. It's always nice to learn new things and I don't really know the first thing about technology or electricity. I would love to learn more."

"We can do something about that." Lewis said. "I'm rewiring between the light switches in the conference room just opposite here, if you'd like to help me? It's nice being two people when pulling a cable, makes it a little easier."

"That would be great." Madison smiled, nodding to Lewis who smiled widely.

"Then let's go and get some tools and equipment. We need a cable, and-"

Madison stopped listening to Lewis and turned her ears to Martin and his secretary again, hoping to catch something more of their conversation before leaving, but they were discussing something as exciting as ordering new paper clips.

* * *

As lunch approached, Sandra was sitting in a booth at the small British pub, the dark green walls covered with pictures of rugby players, quotes about drinking, sports memorabilia and random stuff. Sandra was twirling the coaster in front of her on the table, waiting for Martin to show up, and she was a bit surprised as she watched his secretary Ellen walk inside.

"Hi." Sandra said, confusion in her voice as Ellen walked up, putting her hands on the chair opposite Sandra.

"Hi! I'm sorry, I'm really just here to inform you that a client showed up and Martin just had to take that meeting. He's really sorry for leaving you hanging."

"Aw, well, things like that happen, no harm done." Sandra said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm sure he'll call you later and set up a new lunch date. He is very eager to get to know you a bit better."

"I'm looking forward to it." Sandra smiled gently.

Ellen nodded, looking as if she was about to leave before she apparently changed her mind, looking around a bit before she turned back to Sandra, smiling.

"Would you mind if I joined you for lunch?"

"Not at all, have a seat." Sandra smiled, gesturing to the chair in front of her, Ellen smiling as she sat down, a waiter soon coming to take their order. Sandra and Ellen chitchatted for a while, then eating in silence as their food was brought in, both of them enjoying the British food being served.

As the waiter came and took their plates away, Ellen got to her feet and walked over to the coffee area behind her, pouring coffee into two cups, walking back to Sandra, placing a cup in front of her.

"Thanks." Sandra smiled, sipping her coffee.

"So how do you like the office so far?" Ellen asked, twirling her coffee cup a bit.

"Oh I enjoy it very much. It's a great group of people, lovely office and interesting conversations around the lunch table." Sandra smiled. "I feel very blessed to have been able to join such a nice group of people."

"You seem to fit right in, already from the start. And you're a good writer as well." Ellen smiled, sipping her coffee as well.

"You've read my works?"

"Yes, I read everything. Eva always wants Martin's input on the things published in the paper as it's his head that will roll if something is amiss, but he never has time to read much. I read everything on his table and then report to him if it's good to go."

Sandra nodded, quietly for a moment as she could feel the hairs on her neck beginning to rise, her female intuition telling her that something was not right here. But Ellen kept talking as if nothing was going on, happily drinking her coffee.

"It's a great job, I get to read the most fascinating stories. Some people really get deep into their stories and their beliefs. Some people get so invested in it that sometimes they begin to dig into things they have nothing to do with, subjects they should stay away from."

Sandra was getting more and more nervous, and as she noticed that her fingers would no longer hold the cup the way she wanted them to she knew she was in danger. Stretching her fingers, she could feel the numbness in her arms. She begun feeling lightheaded, becoming very dizzy and she felt her body slightly trembling.

"Don't worry." Ellen said, smiling to Sandra while dropping bills to the table to cover their lunch. "I will take care of you."

And the next thing Sandra knew was that she was dragged out of the restaurant. She struggled, trying to get the attention of the other guests of the restaurant but her body would not cooperate with her, the words coming out of her mouth completely incoherent. She tried to fight Ellen to no use as she was rolled into the backseat of Ellen's car, the doors locking around her and the car speeding off. Sandra fought her hardest to stay conscious, but whatever drugs Ellen had put in her coffee made that impossible.


	20. Chapter 19 - The witches playground

**Chapter 19**

_Still Thursday, August 22__nd__, 1985_

* * *

"_Someone has been sending me threatening letters, thinking they can scare me to be silent. I can't help but to find it rather amusing, that someone would be so childish but yet so frightened themselves. I just don't understand it, why wouldn't whoever the sender is come straight to me and talk to me instead of sending letters? Do they really find me that scary? Yet the letter is rather disturbing, the sender telling me how they'd burn me like the witch I am. Who is this person? How sick is that person?"_

Kamili put Ava's diary away for a moment as she found a lose paper when turning the page. Pulling it off the paper clip it was attached to, she unfolded it, reading it through. It was just a short message but straight to the point.

"_Close your big mouth and stop talking to the unenlightened people on the street. They have no business knowing our stories and secrets. We had it with your lack of manners and if you do not stop you might just burn like the witch you are."_

Kamili swallowed hard, just imagining getting that kind of letter herself. The handwriting was sloppy but she put the note away anyway, thinking that it would perhaps be used as evidence if needed be. Making sure it was secure in a plastic folder she turned back to the diary.

"_Someone think they can stop me by a letter. But I don't feel that I'm doing anything wrong, all I've done is talk to the people who ask questions. I don't fly around City Hall on my broom shouting enchantments to the people. That might be fun though… Never mind. I try to keep to my little farm and my animals but whenever strangers come by they are always welcome. And why wouldn't they be? And why should everything be a secret, we don't have illegal activities or something that could hurt someone else, at least not as far as I know. So trying to shut me up is a waste of time. I wasn't born to fall in line with everyone else, I do my own thing and I am good at it. I have no plans on changing. Go ahead, sender. Burn me."_

Kamili could feel the chills run down her spine as she had a feeling that Ava had met just that fate and she couldn't even imagine the pain and fear Ava, and the others, had lived through the last minutes of their life.

Sighing, Kamili leaned back towards the couch, sitting on the floor with pictures, files and magazines spread out all over the floor, having been reading ever since she arrived here after a quick stop at home to have a change of clothes and to get her car. Now she sat still, staring att all the papers in front of her, wondering if they would make her any wiser. It felt like they had gone through all of it so many times, listened to so many hours of tape, read so many articles and diary entries. But she was really getting nowhere. Stretching a bit, she reached up to the table to drink some of her water, putting the glass back just as the phone called over by Kelly's desk. Groaning as she had to get her stiff body up from the floor, she moved over to the desk, picked up the phone, immediately hearing her younger co-worker's distraught voice.

"Madison?" Kamili said down the phone, frowning, wondering what had happened to make Madison's voice go so high.

"_Yeah, it's me. We have a problem."_

"What is it?"

"_Sandra was supposed to meet up with Martin at lunch, so I decided to sneak around Martin a bit, to see what he was doing… He met up with his secretary and she then took off a while ago, and it just dawned upon me… His secretary is Josie." _

"What?" Kamili said, instantly dropping the notebook she was reading as she could hear how upset Madison was just from the sound of her voice.

"_I thought something looked familiar about the secretary before, Sandra said too that there was something about her and then it suddenly dawned on me at a point where I mumbled 'typical Sagittarius' to myself – which is how I described her to Sandra the first time we met her. She just looks so different from when she's in her witch's outfit that we didn't recognize her."  
_  
"You do need to know that the words 'typical Sagittarius' don't actually describe anyone." Kamili grinned. "To us, I mean. It could still be anyone."

_"Yeah I know. But I'm sure it's her. I didn't know she worked at the Prospect." _

"I didn't know that either." Kamili said, clicking Madison onto the speaker phone before sitting down on the floor again, surrounded by notes, copies, pictures and readouts, beginning to scramble through them. "I'm sure Sandra said her name was Ellen."

"_Yes, she did and that's the name she goes by here, but Sandra also introduces herself as Rosie and I called myself Rachel. Josie could just as well be using a fake name."_

"True." Kamili said, finding the picture of the secretary amongst the massive about of pictures on her table, then rummaging on until she found the picture of Josie. Looking at the both of them, she could absolutely see the resemblance even though they looked very different due to the different hair, makeup, clothes, jewelry and so on. Flipping their photos to read the backside, she instantly sighed loudly.

"_What?" _

Madison's voice came over the phone, impatient, having heard Kamili sigh.

"We never did find any information on Josie, figuring it was a nickname for something."

"_Yeah?"_

"And the secretary is called Ellen Josephine Hart."

"_Josephine?"_

"Josie could absolutely be short for Josephine. I'll do a more thorough check on her and-"

"_Kam, she knows that Sandra is a detective, she's known that from the start. And Ellen Josephine Hart – EJH. Those letters are the 5__th__, 10__th__ and 8__th__ letters of the alphabet. Ring a bell?"_

"5108. 5-10-8. Alicia's last diary entry."

"_Yes! I think that makes it one coincidence too many."_

"Well, Sandra is supposed to meet up with Martin about now so she should be alright at the moment."

"_Yeah but that's just it. I don't think she will. That's why I followed Martin, but I'm still watching him, I can see him through the window. He's sitting by his desk, and he is not on his way to meet up with her. Josie, Ellen or whatever you want to call her, took off. I went down to the restaurant where Sandra said they would go but they are not there. The waitress said that two women ate and then left, one of them looked as if she wasn't feeling well, being supported by the other. They had asked if they could help but been told no."_

"Shit. Do you know where they would be heading?"

"_No but considering what happened to Alicia and probably all the others I am instantly thinking the ceremonial area. I think we need to go there."_

"I think so too. You page Kelly and meet me there; she was to meet up with Charlie for lunch. Unless things seem to be going down the drain, stay back so we don't scare her into doing something stupid. Just be careful, stay back if you feel unsecure and definitely stay back if you beat me or Kelly there. You don't have to jump into a dangerous situation. I don't want to save two people."

"_See you there. You be careful too."_

Kamili hung up the phone and hurried out of the office. Getting down the stairs and into her Quattro, she sat back and took a deep breath, a hand going up to rub her chest slightly, feeling rather lightheaded after running down the stairs. Taking a few moments to collect herself, her mind wandered to Sandra and she opened her eyes with determination in them, allowing the engine to roar to life and quickly pulling out into traffic.

* * *

Arriving to the ceremonial ground, Kamili parked the Audi on quite the distance as she knew that her engine was not really discreet. Turning the engine off she double checked her gun, sticking it down at the small of her back, cursing herself for leaving the gun holster at home, before getting out of her car, also grabbing a pair of handcuffs, stuffing them down into her back pocket before hurrying towards the glade. She had a look around, not seeing any other cars, figuring she was the first there. She knew she should wait for Kelly and Madison, but the image of Sandra being burned on the stakes made her push onwards, walking down a small path towards the area, happy that she had been here before. Walking quietly, sticking to the tree line she, she moved around the lake towards the ceremonial ground where Alicia's remains had been found. She had to get there, she had to make sure Sandra was alright. At least there was no smoke, no screams, no nothing. Everything was eerily quiet.

A bad feeling hit her stomach – what if Sandra wasn't here? What would she do then? She had no idea where Josie would take her if not here. Or what if she was too late?

Worry spurred her forward, and it didn't take that long before she could see the glade and the ceremonial area. And she could see Sandra, she was here. Standing up on the same platform, arms tied behind her back, head hanging limply forwards. She was still at a very far distance away, but at least she wasn't on fire.

_Stay positive._

Kamili snuck closer, her eyes looking around as she tried to locate Josie. She had to be here somewhere. Kamili could see her a pickup, parked not far away, and the whole area was lit up by candles and torches in various sizes and forms, which made Kamili extremely uneasy.

The sound of a snapping stick made Kamili twirl around and just managed to throw herself out of the way of Josie who came swinging with a tree branch, missing her head with an inch to spare. Kamili stumbled backwards out into the glade, slipping on a root and fell backwards, never taking her eyes off Josie, seeing the madness in her eyes. Her eyes were wide, crazy, pupils dilated. Josie seized the moment as Kamili fell, throwing herself at Kamili, but Kamili was faster and managed to tuck her legs in, pushing her hard boots up towards Josie's hip, and by using Josie's own momentum she sent her flying out into the glade while rolling herself up onto her feet.

Kamili ran out into the glade, moving in Sandra's direction while Josie recovered from being thrown. While hurrying towards her friend, Kamili felt towards her back for the gun, cussing loudly as she realized she had dropped it, probably as she had fallen backwards. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She knew better than to make mistakes like that. But there was no time right now for beating herself up. She had to stop Josie, and she had to get Sandra to safety, not knowing what kind of shape Sandra was in.

Kamili could feel a stone of worry lift off her chest as she came closer to her friend up on the platform, tied to the massive pole. She looked wet, as if she had fallen into the lake, her blonde hair sticking to her face, her thin, pink dress stuck to her body. As Sandra heard the rumble, she looked up and saw Kamili, their eyes meeting.

"Sandra! Are you alright?" Kamili shouted to Sandra as she got a second to catch her breath, one eye on Sandra and one eye on Josie who was getting to her feet.

"Yes, but I'm stuck in these ropes and drenched in gasoline so watch the candles!" Sandra shouted back as she tried to wriggle out of the ropes holding her tied to the pole, having gotten new energy as she had realized the cavalry had arrived in the form of her friend, the awesome Mrs. Diallo.

"And beware about Josie, I don't know what she took but she's certainly high on something, she's been hallucinating." Sandra shouted, a word of warning.

Kamili didn't like the sound of that, way too much could go south way too fast. But Sandra would have to wait for a moment, as Josie came running, sprinting at Kamili with her hands clenched into fists, waving them through the air while screaming out a roar. Kamili swerved as a right-hook came swinging and Josie lost her balance for a second as she missed her intended target. As she fell slightly forwards, Kamili took the opportunity to kick up a knee into Josie stomach, then she instantly threw down an elbow between her shoulder blades when Josie bent over, sending Josie to one knee, Kamili kicking her sideways.

Josie stumbled but rolled up on her feet, and she swirled around faster than Kamili was prepared for, looking as if she was to come in low Kamili protected her abdomen, instead earning a fist to the face as Josie suddenly changed direction. Kamili did manage to stay on her feet, and she had just a second to collect herself as Josie came at her again. Kamili was stronger, faster and a better fighter than Josie but Josie was in a frenzy while Kamili was getting tired, her stamina running out. Kamili could feel the strain in her chest as the thumping got louder and faster and she cussed under her breath as she wondered where the backup was, not sure for how long she could hold out, having passed out twice already the last week she recognized the symptoms.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she focused on Josie in front, taking a second to look around to where the candles were located to make sure she threw Josie in the right direction. '_Don't lose focus Diallo_. _Just take her out already._' If Josie won, both Kamili and Sandra would most likely die, and she could not let that happen.

As the two of them collided again, Josie aiming towards her chest, Kamili slid down low to protect her chest from what would've been a rough impact, and instead she smacked her heel hard right onto Josie's knee. She fell forward and the plan had been that she was to hit the ground. Instead she fell right across Kamili who got pinned down jumped up, faster than Kamili, angry now, and before Kamili had time to move, Josie landed a hard steel kick towards her lower back. Then another. And another. The sound began to disappear around her, everything growing quiet as she stopped counting the kicks, the only sound coming through to her was her own pulse shooting off.

But somewhere back in her head, a voice was fighting its way past the thumping of her heart and the kicks towards her lower back, even making its way past Josie's mad laughter. It was the voice of an Angel, standing on a platform, screaming Kamili's name. The voice was deafening everything else and it spurred Kamili on. Using the last of her energy she twisted around, managing to grab Josie's foot, forcefully pulling it sideways to make fall Josie over. Kamili instantly shoved her onto her stomach, placed her knee between the shoulder blades to pin her down as Josie was thrashing like a maniac. Pulling out the pair of handcuffs from her back pocket, she put them on Josie while hearing Sandra giving off a hurray in the background, cheering her on.

Not liking how close to all the candles they were, Kamili took a deep breath before getting to her feet, grabbing Josie by her feet and forcefully dragged her out of reach of the candles. It was easier said than done considering how much Josie was thrashing, kicking towards her and doing her best to get out of the grip Kamili had around her feet, and Kamili could definitely feel how her own body was protesting loudly, moving forwards only by the help of adrenaline. Getting Josie out of reach of all the candles, she could feel her head beginning to swim, the world tilting and black spots appearing in front of her eyes. She was running out of adrenaline and her heart was revolting angrily.

She could hear people running towards her and twirling around she could see Kelly and Madison in full sprint, guns drawn. Kamili dropped Josie to the ground, holding out a hand of desperation for Kelly, and she could see both Madison and Kelly holstering their gun while running, Kelly grabbing a firm hold of Kamili's outstretched arm and catching her around her lower back as Kamili's legs finally gave in, knowing she, and Sandra, were safe in Kelly's presence.

"I got you, I got you." Kelly said quietly, repeating herself while gently laying the unconscious Kamili down into the soft grass. "Madison, get Sandra to safety and then call for help straight away."

Madison nodded, looking worriedly at Kamili before, hurrying over to Sandra, climbing up onto the platform where Sandra was standing, beginning to get the ropes off her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Drenched in gasoline though."

"The waitress at the restaurant where you ate said you weren't feeling well." Madison said, still worried.

"Yeah I think she drugged me but it wore off, I feel alright, a bit lightheaded and body is rather weak but I'm alright."

"These ropes are really tight." Madison said, having trouble getting them off, fingers slipping on the soaked ropes.

"Remind me to get you pocketknife Mads." Sandra smiled, winking a bit. "You can't always conceal a gun, but you can conceal a knife."

"Do you have yours on you?"

"Of course."

"Where do you keep yours?" Madison asked, looking Sandra up and down, her thin dress wet and clinging to her body, her bare legs and heels. Madison couldn't for her life see a knife attached to Sandra.

"In my bra." Sandra grinned, turning her head towards Madison.

"Deadly." Madison chuckled.

"Always. Come on, reach in and grab it, left side by the armpit."

Sandra couldn't help but to laugh at the way Madison blushed, but she did still reach in and fish the knife out, finally managing to cut Sandra free, handing the knife back as Sandra twisted her arms and flexing her bad hand, wincing slightly while examining her wrists a bit, chafed from the ropes.

"Thank you." Sandra said, looking up to Madison.

"No problem. I'm glad you're alright. Let's get you to the car, we can call the cops and an ambulance from there."

"Yeah, I need to check on Kam though." Sandra said, looking over towards her friends while she and Madison made their way down from the platform, Madison giving Sandra a hand as she noticed her stumble a bit, both of them taking a wide circle around all the candles, coming up to Kelly who had forcefully rolled the angry and wriggling Josie onto her stomach and was now sitting on top of her. Kelly was observing Kamili who was lying on her side in the grass in front of her, Kelly having rolled her into recovery position and Sandra was relieved to see Kamili's chestnut brown eyes open but unfocused, her breathing strained but appearing to be slowing down.

"Is she alright?" Sandra said, reaching Kelly and Kamili, Sandra hunching down but not wanting to touch her as she herself were so sticky.

"Yeah, I think so, but her pulse is sky high." Kelly said, two fingers against Kamili's wrist, moving her eyes away for just a second to meet Sandra's blue eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just drenched in gasoline so I'm going to walk away from the candles, I'll go to the cars and call for help. Does she need an ambulance?" Sandra answered, looking between Kelly and Kamili.

"Yeah, I think so." Kelly said. "I want her checked over at least. You too for that matter."

Sandra nodded, turning her attention back to Kamili again, her pinky finger poking Kamili's arm. "Can you hear me Kammy?"

Kamili just breathed, coughing a bit, not looking as if she heard Sandra at all.

"You'll be okay." Sandra said quietly, looking up to Kelly. "I'll be back in a bit."

Kelly put her hand in her pocket, fishing out her car keys, giving them to Sandra. "Here, sit down in my car. Madison, will you start putting out the candles?"

"Sure." Madison said, beginning to move around to put out all the fires as Sandra took the keys and walked towards the cars, leaving a long trail of gasoline behind her.

Josie still wriggled underneath Kelly, angry as she watched Sandra get away. If she could just… The woman on top of her was paying attention to the black woman on the ground and Josie readied herself for a moment, waiting. As she felt the weight on her back slightly shift as the woman on top leaned down towards the other, she pushed off as hard as she could, throwing the woman off her, leaping to her feet and kicking several torches over into the trail of gasoline. She was violently tackled to the ground a moment later, but the fire was already spreading fast and she laughed out loud for a moment before earning a powerful right hook to the face, knocking her out cold.

Sandra never saw the fire coming towards her, but Madison did. It was moving in rapid pace and not having the time to plan it better, Madison twirled 180 degrees and ran as fast as she could, tackling Sandra into the lake, pushing her out of the way of the fire, falling down through the surface along with her as she lost her own balance.

Sandra flailed as she went through the surface of the water, but quickly recovered, swimming back up to see Madison's head popping up next to her, twirling her head Sandra looked up towards where they had just been, seeing the long trail of fire. Looking back towards Madison, Sandra couldn't help but to giggle as Madison smiled apologetically.

"There might've been better ways to handle that situation but at least you're not on fire." Madison smiled and Sandra laughed while splashing some water her direction.

"This is fine Mads, thank you so much."

"My pleasure." Madison grinned before she suddenly groaned. "Oh no, please tell me you still got the car keys?"

Sandra looked at her with a horrified expression for about 5 seconds before she cracked, showing off the keys in her hand proudly, making Madison laugh. Madison and Sandra then looked over towards Kelly and Kamili, Kelly moving to Kamili's side as Kamili forced herself up on one of her elbows. Josie, on the ground next to Kelly, had finally calmed down, which might have to do with the fact that Kelly had knocked her unconscious. Madison and Sandra begun swimming towards the shore, Sandra heading in the direction of the car and called for help while Madison moved towards Kelly, reaching their side.

"Why did you hit her Kelly?" Madison asked, already knowing the answer.

"She was being annoying. If Charlie asks, she ran into a tree."


	21. Chapter 20 - Dinner's on Charlie

**Chapter 20**

_[Yes, it's still Thursday, August 22__nd__, 1985]_

* * *

The cops, paramedics and firemen soon arrived, and they put their own handcuffs on Josie, who had come around a few minutes later, and had instantly begun to thrash violently, screaming and laughing. It had taken three officers to get her into the back of the patrol car as the firemen began doing what they're good at.

Kamili was up and walking but met up with the paramedics anyway, allowing them to hook her up to a portable ECG, making sure everything was alright. Sitting in the back of the ambulance wearing her jeans and a bra with a blanket covering her upper body she was leaning back towards the wall, eyes closed. Sandra soon joined her, jumping inside to sit down next to her, also with a blanket around her shoulders, hair still wet but quickly drying underneath the warm rays of the sun, making her blonde hair super curly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. Just pushed onwards a bit too hard. Couldn't let you die, now could I?" Kamili grinned tiredly, shrugging her shoulders.

"Careful, people might hear and realize that you like me." Sandra smiled, tucking her hand into Kamili's while Kamili laughed, squeezing Sandra's hand, looking down towards it for a second before lifting the hands up, looking at Sandra's wrist.

"Hey, this doesn't look nice."

Sandra sighed, nodding, looking at her own wrists. They were chafed from the rope burning as she had wriggled in panic while watching one of her closest friends take a beating without being able to help her out.

"Yeah, I know, it's rather tender. I'll have the medics look them over before we go."

"You should let them do a complete checkup, you told me she drugged you."

"But I feel fine now, maybe a little bit of a lingering headache but nothing more than that. I think it was a muscle relaxer or something, body's still a bit weak but I doubt it's anything permanent."

"Yeah, but still, just considering-"

"Yeah I know. Don't worry." Sandra smiled, squeezing Kamili's hand again.

Kelly and Madison came walking over as well, Madison also wearing a blanket, her thick hair nowhere near dry though in difference from Sandra's. Kelly put a hand on Kamili's ankle, Kamili nodding, reassuring her that she was alright, all of them listening to the steady beep of the heart monitor for a moment before Kelly sighed, smiling.

"Good job girls. Why don't we finish up here and head home, get a shower and clean up, and meet for dinner tonight to talk everything through? Dinner's on Charlie." Kelly smiled, proud of her girls.

"Aurore's place?"

"Happily." Kelly smiled. "I'll call her. 6.30?"

"Great." The Angels all agreed, just as two of the cops came up to them, one of them being the tall and blonde cop named Carl, once Sandra's partner back when she was on the force.

"Hey." He smiled, peeking into the ambulance, nodding to Kamili before looking over to Sandra. "You ladies alright?"

"We're okay Carl." Sandra smiled.

"Can I take your statements before we head off with that crazy person?"

"Of course." Kamili smiled, looking between Sandra and Carl, noticing their glances, but being too tired she just began talking, giving Carl a full statement, Sandra, Madison and Kelly all joining in as well.

"Thanks." Carl smiled, moving aside as the paramedics returned, one of them moving into the ambulance to have a look at the heart monitor, smiling gently before he unhooked Kamili from it.

"It's looks fine. Just relax for a bit now, if I understand it correctly you had a bit of a rough week."

Kamili nodded, moving from the blanket back to her t-shirt, Carl turning his back in respect, before turning to the paramedic, nodding towards Sandra.

"Have a look at her too, will you? Those wrists need tending to and she was drugged earlier."

"I'm fine Carl." Sandra said, but still held her hands out to the medics, one of them cleaning and wrapping her wrists and checking her over before Carl held a hand out, escorting Kamili and Sandra out of the ambulance, a gentle hand brushing Sandra's back.

"I'll talk to you later."

"We'll spend Monday morning sitting down with the client, telling her everything. If you want to attend that meeting you are welcome to. I'll call and talk to the client but I'm sure she would be alright with it." Kelly said gently, nodding to Carl and his partner who was coming up behind them.

"Thank you, that would be good. Sandra has my private number if there's anything." Carl nodded, before giving Sandra a kiss on her cheek before moving over to the firemen, making sure they had everything under control.

The four women walked down towards the cars, Kelly got into her mustang, Madison got onto her bike while Sandra and Kamili moved over to Kamili's car, getting into it and leaning back in the seat. Sandra, who was still wrapped in the blanket, narrowed her eyes as she noticed Kamili's discomfort as she leaned her back against the seat.

"How's your back?"

"It's okay."

"She did land some really good hits to it."

"Yeah, I noticed. It's just sore to the touch, but it's fine."

"You sure? You should've let the medics look at it, you want me to get them?"

"No Sandra, I promise you, it's fine."

"If you say so." Sandra sighed, closing her eyes for a second as she leaned back into the car seat, wrapping the blanket closer around her, happy that they managed to wrap up this case before it got way out of hand. Well, tied to the stakes drenched in gasoline maybe wasn't her favorite thing to happen but at least that was all there were, and it was over now.

Kamili observed her friend for a moment but realizing they both needed to get some rest she put the car in drive and started driving away from there, Kelly close behind for a while before heading another direction in an intersection.

Both girls sat quiet in the car, lost in thoughts. Kamili's brain was beating her up over the fact that she was not in shape for field work and she knew she had to get into shape as soon as possible. She was just happy that Josiehadn't been much of a fighter. Had she been a man – stronger and bigger than Kamili – today's outcome might've been catastrophic. But she shouldn't be thinking like that. She did knock Josieto the ground, and she had managed it without help. She was stronger than she thought, and her fighting skills were still good, but her stamina needed some work for sure. But she was proud over herself, proud that she had managed to hold on until she saw her backup. She just wished she hadn't fully collapsed upon seeing that said backup.

Trying to push the thoughts aside, she drove the car to Sandra's place and dropped her off before heading home to her house. Walking into her house, it lay quiet and calm as no one else was home at this time of the day. She took a long, warm shower as she tried to get the kinks out of her body, her back very sore, before she lay down on her bed for a rest. The adrenaline and the heart rushing off had left her exhausted, and she needed to close her eyes for a second.

* * *

Sandra let herself into the house after ringing the bell several times, and she kept calling Kamili's name as she walked through the house. She had been worried about Kamili and decided to check on her before dinner. Her not answering now when she called didn't really ease Sandra's worry, and she walked with long steps through the house in search of her friend. Peeking into the master bedroom, she could see Kamili sleeping peacefully on her belly in the bed, wearing nothing but a towel around her hip. Sandra smiled to herself, figuring Kamili must be exhausted. Walking over to her friend, she carefully put a hand on Kamili's shoulder, wincing as she saw the state of Kamili's back. It always pained her to see Kamili's back, covered in long, old scars from knives, and now the scars were accompanied by a massive bruise covering the lower back. Kamili stirred under her touch and looked over disoriented to her friend, a hand going up to rub her eyes.

"Hey there. Tired much?" Sandra smiled gently as Kamili rolled over, immediately regretting it as she put pressure to her back.

"I don't like the look of that bruise." Sandra said as she watched her friend wince badly. "I wish you'd let me take you to the hospital, you might have some internal injuries."

"It's fine, it's just a bruise." Kamili said, pushing past the pain, up into sitting position, a hand instinctively pulling the towel up to shield herself, looking around the room. "What time is it?"

"Just after 4.30." Sandra said, giving her a smile as she rose. "I'll let you get dressed; do you want me to put some coffee on?"

"Please. Morgan and Yasmin should be home soon."

Sandra nodded as she walked out of the room, heading downstairs she moved into the kitchen and started the coffee machine. Not long after, Sandra heard the front door open and she turned around just in time to catch the young girl that was suddenly in her arms.

"Sandra!"

"Well hi sweetie!" Sandra said, picking the 7-year old up with a grunt. "You get bigger every time I see you! How is that even possible?"

Yasmin laughed as Sandra tickled her before dropping her gently to the floor as Tara walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Tara! I thought it was Morgan coming."

"He got stuck at work, he called me to pick her up." Tara smiled, gesturing towards Yasmin who had disappeared into her room.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm alright, meds are working fine." Tara smiled, sitting down on one of the barstools next to the kitchen island. "What's with your wrists?"

"Oh, rope burns. They've been taken care of, don't worry."

"Okay. Morgan did say you were working a case, I didn't expect you guys to be home?"

"Yeah but we wrapped it up shortly after lunch. Gone home, showered, napped. We're heading out for dinner with Kelly and Madison to celebrate. I'm here early though because I wanted to check that Kamili was alright, and now that you're here maybe you could-"

Sandra was interrupted by Kamili coming downstairs, now in jeans with a low waist and a blouse. Yasmin heard her mother and she came running out to meet her at the bottom of the stairs, Kamili giving her a happy hug before Yasmin hurried back to her room as Kamili walked into the kitchen, smiling upon seeing her sister.

"Hi! Surprised to see you here."

"Morgan called, emergency at work. He didn't know when to expect you back."

"We wrapped it up faster than we thought." Kamili grinned proudly.

"And all good? No injuries?" Tara asked, remembering what Sandra had begun saying as Kamili had walked in, looking between Sandra and Kamili.

"Just fine."

Sandra cleared her throat, making both sisters turn towards her. Sandra raised her eyebrows towards Kamili, who immediately mouthed '_shut up_' to her. Sandra rolled her eyes, before turning to the older sister. "Tara, would you please take a look at her back, I really don't like the look of it."

Kamili sent her a deadly glare, but Sandra just shrugged her shoulders.

Tara narrowed her eyes towards her sister before quickly grabbing a hold of Kamili's blouse before she had time to get away, pulling it up, hitching a breath as she saw the massive, deep, dark bruise. Kamili's dark skin may hide it quite well, and it would probably look even worse during the upcoming days, but it could still be easily spotted already as the whole area was swollen and causing Kamili discomfort.

"Jesus." Tara breathed, pushing Kamili's blouse up she tucked it in underneath the bra strap on the back, before she put her left hand on Kamili's flat stomach, holding her still as she put her other hand on the bruise and as she began probing the area with her thumb, she earned a sharp inhale from her sister as Kamili leaned forward, grabbing onto the kitchen counter with both hands, closing her eyes.

"What happened?"

"She wrestled with the killer and was kicked, several times, in the back." Sandra said quietly, wincing and answering for Kamili as she saw the amount of pain her friend was in, Kamili's head dropping down to rest against her arms.

"Do you pee blood?" Tara said, easing up on her hand for a moment to give her sister a chance to answer.

"No." Kamili said as she took a deep breath, and instantly felt her sister's eyes pierce her. Tara knew she was lying and Kamili knew it would hurt less to just be honest. "Well, not anymore."

"Dammit Kamili. How long has it been since it happened?" Tara sighed, looking towards Sandra.

"About 2 hours, little more."

Tara nodded, spent another few minutes letting her fingers move over the area, much to Kamili's discomfort, before she pushed the blouse down again. "It's really deep, the kidney has probably taken some really good hits. But I think I can allow you to go to dinner instead of the hospital, but I don't like it. Something like this happens, you should really go down and have an ultrasound done. If there's more blood when you use the bathroom next time, I need you to go straight in, okay?"

Kamili stretched, pushing her blouse down more evenly, turning to her sister, nodding.

"Promise, please?" Tara begged, putting her head on its side.

"I promise." Kamili said, rolling her eyes to her sister, who frowned.

"Kamili Meria Diallo. Do I really have to teach you the importance of your organs?" Tara lectured, interrupting herself midsentence with a coughing fit, reminding herself that Kamili wasn't the only one stubborn in the Sow-family.

"No, _Taraji__ Shani_." Kamili sighed, rolling her eyes while walking over to the coffee maker, pouring a cup, holding it out to Tara who nodded in acceptance, taking it from Kamili. Sandra got a cup too before Kamili took one for herself, leaning her behind against the counter.

"You promised me you'd be more careful on the cases; you were not even supposed to be in the field. First the bomb and now this?"

Kamili didn't say anything, just looking down into her cup as she took the lecturing from her sister. Sandra, on the other hand, felt that she had to defend her friend.

"Hey, Tara, ease up, she saved my life. Again." Sandra said, smiling to Kamili before meeting Tara's eyes as Tara turned around to Sandra, surprise evident in her eyes. "I would not be here now had she not gotten involved. She's been staying inside almost the entire case, the only reason she headed out was because she knew I was in danger. Had she come a bit later, Josie would've burned me to death, but she stopped her, kicked her right on her butt."

Tara's eyes were wide as she looked at Sandra, before looking back to her sister who was twirling her coffee mug, looking down into it.

"I'm sorry. I won't tell you guys how to do your job. Just be careful, yeah? Both of you. How did your heart hold on during a fight?"

"Not very well." Kamili said, shrugging her shoulders. "The adrenaline kept me going until Kelly arrived but then I blacked out. Paramedics made sure everything was alright though, they couldn't see anything."

Tara nodded, then frowned. "So you were actually checked over by the paramedics and they didn't notice that bruise?"

"The only checked my vitals and heart, I never told them about the back. I know, I know, I should've. Sandra told me as well at the scene. I was exhausted, just wanted to get home."

Tara nodded, holding up her hand. Nagging is unnecessary.

"Hopefully the next case is all about staking out cheating husbands." Sandra said thoughtfully, drinking her coffee.

"Nah, you'd be bored out of your mind, you hate the stake-outs." Kamili laughed, looking up to Sandra, then meeting her sister's eyes. Both of them knowing Tara only spoke out of worry, they shared a smile before Tara changed the subject.

"I talked to mama yesterday."

"What she say?"

"As I got another two weeks sick leave, I thought I would combine it a bit. So, I rearranged at work and I'm taking a few weeks holiday as well following the sick leave." Tara said, took a break as the cough interrupted her.

Kamili observed her sister, getting a nod from her as the coughing fit subsided, Tara having some coffee to get her breath back.

"And you're heading down south?" Kamili added as her sister recovered.

"Yes. And you guys must talk to Kelly, because Sandra promised mama that you guys would come too. Mama is very excited about it." Tara said, looking over to Sandra who was blushing slightly.

"Kelly will love that. Seriously, we just had an _eight months_ long break." Kamili grinned.

"But you guys always have some time off between the big cases." Tara smiled. "Maybe you can find some work to do down in Georgia."

"Well, work always find us whenever we try to outrun it." Sandra said, shrugging her shoulders.

Kamili chuckled, agreeing with her friend, looking over and meeting her eyes. "You get to talk to Kelly because you're the one who promised mama. And if you can't convince Kelly, you will have to explain that to mama."

Sandra smiled as she sipped her coffee. "I'll talk to her. It would be cool to go away the whole gang. I'd love to see Georgia and meet your family."

"If we do go, we need to talk to Aurore as well, it's been a while since she was down too. Devin and Peggy would probably like to go down to visit their parents as well." Kamili added, Tara nodded.

"Let's try to plan this. I agree with Sandra that it would be nice to go away together, the kids and all." Tara smiled, managing to swallow down an incoming cough. She was looking forward to taking a break back home for a while. She had really been working herself to exhaustion, and she knew she needed a good break if she was going to be able to recover enough to go back to work.

"Hey, are you really okay?" Kamili asked. "Maybe you should hit our guest bed and I'll stay home and watch Yasmin. She's my daughter after all, you don't have to babysit while I go out and meet up with friends."

"No, don't be ridiculous. Morgan said he would be an hour or so late, two hours tops, so he should be home soon. Then I'll take your guest bed. You go out, have fun, enjoy dinner."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

Two hours later, Kamili and Sandra walked into Aurore's restaurant, coming in through the back door, finding their way up to their normal booth. They found Kelly and Madison there already, joined by Kris and Jill, the four of them happily chitchatting.

"Hey." Kelly smiled as Sandra and Kamili sat down. "All good?"

"All good. Appreciated a nap." Kamili grinned, sitting down next to Jill. "How are you doing? You look better."

"I am." Jill smiled. "I've gotten to keep the food down lately which has been nice, and it's given me some more energy."

"It's great to see that." Kamili smiled, nudging Jill gently.

"We all agree." Kris agreed. "It's also nice to hear that you guys brought that crazy person down."

"It's good to know that no more women will lose their lives in that horrible way." Sandra said, all of the others agreeing with her.

"Do you have enough evidence to make sure she stays put?" Kris asked. "I mean, there's not much evidence that she killed all of those women, even if you can lock her away for attempted murder at least it would be nice to get some justice for all the other women as well."

"Oh we're good." Sandra grinned. "Carl called me just before we left for here, telling me that she was coming down from whatever she had been taking and she told them everything, how she killed all of them. She felt it was time to confess her sins apparently."

"Oh well then." Kris smiled. "That makes it a whole lot easier to get a sentence of course."

"Sandra told me of the conversation with – Carl, was that his name?" Kamili said, looking over to Sandra who blushed but nodded. "She told me of the conversation. Not only do we have a full confession but going through her private belongings at the Prospect they found all the missing drafts that Alicia had been writing, and also loads of things from the other women. Alicia was very close to the truth and even if she didn't write Josie's name in the article, she was darn close to doing so."

"And if that wasn't enough, they found photos who I believe Sophie Brown took which actually shows how Josie burned Ava to death. Those photos were well enough to put her away, so I assume she found them and killed Sophie." Sandra added. "They are going through all the material, but Carl said that we don't have to worry about trying to get her a lifetime sentence, she sorted that out herself."

"Well that's good. I was a bit worried there that she would slip through it." Kris said, the others all agreeing just as two waitresses came out towards the table, carrying their food. None of them had ordered as Aurore had told her waitresses earlier that she knew they were coming, and she knew their preferences. Several different courses were handed out and Kamili couldn't help but to giggle as a massive ice cream sundae and lemon sorbet, complete with sprinkles, chocolate sauce and merengue, was placed in front of Jill, who happily dug in.

"That's an interesting dinner choice from Aurore." Kamili said, raising an eyebrow towards Jill who smiled widely, swallowing a big spoon of ice cream and sprinkles.

"I've been able to keep the desserts down, especially ice cream. So Aurore has made it her mission to feed me. I do believe she's happy to get some of her pastry chef recipes out again." Jill smiled.

"Whatever works." Kamili laughed, the others around the table agreeing with her.

"So, Madison, how did it feel to actually be the one to solve your first case?" Kris asked after a few minutes if eating in silence.

"Oh, what an adrenaline rush, absolutely terrifying but such a thrill." Madison smiled to her, looking between Kris and Kelly.

"You did really well." Kamili nodded. "Had you not found out in time that Ellen and Josie were the same person, the outcome might've been a lot worse."

"I am especially happy." Sandra said, smiling to Madison. "I did not look forward to being burned, it seems like a horrible way to go."

"It was mostly luck I guess." Madison said, blushing a bit, looking down.

"Don't sell yourself short." Sandra said, nudging her. "I sat opposite her for a good half an hour at lunch and didn't realize it was Josie until I came around up at that platform. You are so good at reading people, seeing small things within their behavior that we haven't noticed."

"I'm a bit jealous." Kris grinned, blinking one eye towards Kelly. "Kelly met you first. If you ever get bored with the agency you're welcome to the FBI."

"Maybe later on. I still got a lot to learn." Madison said, her voice growing a bit quiet, looking down into her food for a moment.

Kelly looked over to her, noticing that something was bothering her, and she gently elbowed her. "Hey, what's on your mind?"

"Oh I was just thinking that I could've done it better, I followed Martin and by the time I found out it was Josie, she had already taken Sandra. I should've kept my eyes on Sandra instead and she might've not been taken at all."

"Sure, that might've been a better option, but fact still remains that you did find out both who it was and where she had taken her. We all make mistakes, the important thing is that we learn from them." Kamili smiled.

"And I'm still alright. Had you followed me she might've noticed something, gotten nervous and taken off instead. You did the right thing." Sandra said. "And you definitely did the right thing in calling for backup straight away. You saved my life; I hope you understand that."

Madison looked up and met Sandra's eyes, both of them smiling to each other, the whole table in silence for a moment as the two Angels shared a silent conversation before Sandra broke out into a wide smile, digging in her purse. "I got you a present."

Madison looked up to her, a bit confused, as Sandra pulled out a little box, handing it to Madison. "I didn't have time to wrap it."

Madison smiled as she opened up the little wooden box, finding a small pocketknife, silver blade that flipped out from a burgundy red hilt with, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand when folded. Madison chuckled as she looked up to Sandra. "I love it, thank you."

"Cutting ropes is a big part of our job and it's easier if you have a sharp knife." Sandra laughed, the others agreeing with her.

"Are your wrists alright by the way?" Kelly asked, looking up to Sandra who nodded.

"They're alright, it wasn't as bad as it looked. The medics cleaned and wrapped them, they'll be absolutely fine in a week or so."

"Good." Kelly smiled, then looking up as she saw Aurore come walking towards them. "Hi there."

"Hi. All good?" Aurore smiled, sliding into the booth next to Kamili, looking around to them all. She was still wearing her chef whites, short hair in a high pony, wiping her hands off on a towel hanging over her shoulder.

"All good." The whole table answered in unison.

"This was fabulous." Jill smiled, pointing to her empty bowl.

"I can see that. You're just one step from licking the bowl clean." Aurore laughed. "Just don't tell Jessica that ice cream is ideal for dinner."

"Too late, she already thinks it is." Kris sighed, the others laughing as they could just pictured the little girl taking after her aunt when it came to food choices.

"Oh well. There are worse things in life than appreciating good food." Aurore grinned, getting to her feet to help out as her servers came to clean the table off. "You got room for dessert?"

"Yes!"

Aurore raised an eyebrow towards Jill, shaking her head slightly as Jill gave her an innocent look.

"I mean, can I please have some more of the lemon sorbet, please, chef?" Jill asked, tilting her head while flashing a Munroe-smile.

"Of course you can, for you, this is an all-you-can-eat buffet." Aurore laughed, Jill smiling widely.

"I knew it would be a good idea to put some money into this place."

"So you always have someone to feed you?" Kris asked, raising an eyebrow towards her sister.

"Yes." Jill nodded. "Best business idea I've ever had."

Aurore just laughed, grabbing the last of the plates, looking around the booth. "All of you? Dessert?"

The whole gang around the booth nodded happily, not planning to miss out on dessert. Aurore smiled happily as she headed back into the kitchen, pleased to see another case finished and everyone happy, smiling and _alive_.


	22. Chapter 21 - Wrap it up

**Chapter 21**

_[Monday, August 26__th__, 1985]_

* * *

"Sandra?" Kamili called out as she walked in through the front door of Sandra's house, Janet close on her heels. Not getting an answer they pulled up their guns, moving through the silent house with tense muscles, prepared for anything, waiting for some bad guys to be standing around the corner. It was confusing though, they had seen Sandra's car outside along with a police cruiser and they had instantly gotten worried that something had happened, but the police didn't seem to be answering either as they called out.

They had all decided to meet up at the office by 8, the client and everyone else coming in at 10 for a run through of the closed case. Around 8:30 and no Sandra, they had all gotten worried. What if they had missed something? Did Josie have a partner? Had Sandra been sicker than she let on? Both Kamili and Janet were beating themselves up, they should've checked on her during the weekend, but she had been fine when they split up on Friday evening.

But it was almost 9 now, and worried sick, Kamili and Janet had decided to let themselves into her house as she didn't answer the doorbell, trying to find their friend.

Moving through the house, as quietly as possible, they suddenly saw Sandra's dogs patiently sitting outside the closed bathroom door and coming closer they could hear that the shower was on. Janet and Kamili shared a look before Janet knocked the door.

"Sandra? You in there?"

Janet and Kamili shared a look of confusion as they heard the water quickly being turned off and weird sounds following. The next second, the door was pulled open and Sandra came out, still soaking wet and small towel wrapped around her, quickly shutting the door behind her. Her dogs were well excited to finally see her come out, acting as if she had been gone forever.

"Hello there." Janet laughed, looking at her friend who was out of breath, holding the towel with one hand and the door handle with the other. Janet couldn't help but to chuckle as she holstered her gun, looking over to Kamili who wasn't sure where to put her eyes, not really being as comfortable as Sandra when it came to nudity. Sandra was never shy, but her face was bright red with embarrassment at the moment, which made Janet grin widely. "You're not alone in there, right?"

Sandra sent her a gleaming smile, as she looked between Janet and Kamili, a hand going to wipe off her face, pulling her fingers through the wet hair. "No. What are you guys doing here?"

"You're an hour late, you didn't answer your phone. We got worried."

"Shit, I'm so sorry." Sandra chuckled, moving a hand to rub her face. "I didn't realize what time it was."

"No, you were certainly busy with something else." Kamili grinned. "Or sorry, _someone_ else."

"Who is it?" Janet grinned, curious out of her head, Sandra hushing her.

The door was opened behind Sandra, almost making her fall backwards as she had been leaning against the door. Carl stood, straightening his t-shirt with the police logo on it, hair still wet, smiling towards Janet and Kamili.

"Angels."

"Carl." Both Janet and Kamili answered in unison.

"What time is it?"

"9 am." Janet smiled and watched how Carl's eyes went wide, leaning down to give Sandra a kiss before hurrying off, grabbing his things which appeared to be scattered around the house before heading outside. Sandra shook her head as she leaned against the doorframe, looking up to her two friends.

"I'm sorry guys."

"It's alright. We're glad you're okay, and happy." Janet smiled, a hand going up to brush Sandra's arm.

"Give me ten minutes to wash the conditioner out of my hair and get ready." Sandra smiled.

"I'll put on some coffee." Janet smiled, nodding as Sandra walked back into the bathroom, Kamili and Janet laughed as they moved to the kitchen, Kamili walking over to the phone to call Kelly as Janet put on some coffee, almost ready as they heard the hair dryer being turned on in the bathroom.

Sandra came out into the kitchen just as Janet pour coffee in three cups, Sandra smiling, still a bit embarrassed as she took the cup from her friend, looking over to Kamili who had just managed to get a hold of Kelly.

"No, we're at her place now, she's fine, just overslept. Yeah, we're having a cup of coffee and then we'll come in. Yeah, see you in a bit. Oh yes, I do think Sandra called Carl at some point during the weekend." Kamili grinned, looking up to Sandra who put her red face in her hands. Kamili hung up the phone, grinning widely to Sandra who looked up to her friend and sighed.

"Thanks for covering for me."

"You're welcome." Kamili said, still grinning. "But you owe me one."

* * *

"Good morning Angels."

"Good morning Charlie."

"I trust you all had some time to rest during the weekend?" Charlie asked, his voice coming out through the a speaker phone as always.

"I think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed doing absolutely nothing this weekend. I was on the couch or in the bath tub the whole time." Kamili smiled, leaning back relaxed in the couch.

"Well deserved my Angel. Now, who am I talking to?"

"Well, all of your Angels of course, including Janet and Kris." Kelly said. "Then we have Hank here from the CIA, we have Carl and Donny from the Washington Police Department, and we have our client of course, Miss Andrea Jonas."

"We are also accompanied by the parents of our four missing girls." Kamili said, smiling gently towards the different parents whom she and Kelly had met earlier.

"A big group of people." Charlie smiled. "I'm hoping the office is not too crammed for you all?"

"We're downstairs actually, trying to break the old habit of only spending time in the office." Sandra smiled, sitting in one of the couches leaning against Carl, him having an arm resting at the back of the couch behind her shoulders, Janet on Sandra's other side with Benjamin sleeping against her shoulder. "These couches are very nice to relax in."

"I'm glad the whole office building is being used. I have heard that there has been a lot of swimming in the pool."

"Yes, I have tried to squeeze in a few laps every day." Kamili smiled, looking around. "And I have been accompanied by all Angels at some point."

"Very good. Now let's move on to business. Tell me everything."

"It all started when Ava Miller was murdered." Kamili started, looking over towards the Millers. "She was happy and outgoing, believing herself to be a witch but there's no harm in that. She was murdered because she wanted to reveal secrets from the witches' community, something that Ellen Josephine Hart, let's call her by her nickname Josie, was not too fond off. Josie was addicted to hallucinogenic drugs, and she saw things that were not real nor true. She saw Ava as a threat to the society and decided to dispose of her."

Kelly picked up.

"Sophie Brown was the second victim. She saw Josie kill Ava, had photos whom she might've shared with Ellen, not knowing it was the same person. Or maybe she did, confronting her with them. No matter how it came out, Josie did find out at least, and killed her."

"We might add that Josie has two different sides to her – one being the outspoken, easily noticed witch, the other one being the shy and quiet secretary of Martin Howard, president of the magazine the Prospect. She read everything before it was published and therefore read things that she probably didn't want to read." Sandra added before Kelly continued.

"Then Anna Jackson probably picked up the same story, this time two missing women. Josie once again feeling threatened, disposed of her. Then Olivia and Alicia both met the same faith, nosing around the same story. This has been something that maybe Josie once regretted, but it got out of her hands, growing bigger with each killing until she didn't know how to stop. The more people dying the more people found out about it. She needed to be stopped. I'm just sorry that we didn't catch her earlier." Kelly said, her voice fading as she looked amongst the parents of the room.

"We're glad to finally have an answer to what happened to our daughter." Mr. Miller said, looking genuinely relieved. "It's been a pure hell not knowing what happened. Some said she just packed a bag and left, but we knew in our hearts that it wasn't true."

"I couldn't agree more." Mrs. Brown said. "I'm so grateful to have a closure."

"How did you find out that it was Josie?" Carl asked, looking around.

"It was Madison actually." Kamili said, Madison instantly blushing, looking down to the floor. "Well, Sandra of course realized it when she was drugged and kidnapped by her after deliberately leaving half-written drafts about these five women out and about in the office, but it's all thanks to Madison that Sandra didn't become the sixth victim. Madison is very good at reading people, seeing their quirks early and then comparing them to the different zodiac signs. And she noticed the same behavior between the witch Josie, and the shy secretary Ellen. Adding two and two together we realized that Josie was short for Josephine which is Ellen's middle name, and we also noted in Alicia's diary that her very last entry was with 5-10-8, which is EJH is you take the letters numbers in the alphabet. Ellen Josephine Hart."

"We headed out to the ceremonial ground where we know Alicia was killed, and where we believe all five women were killed, and we found Sandra there, and Josie, completely out of control." Kamili finished off.

"We have questioned Josie, already while high as a kite and when she had dropped down, and she told us everything, almost bragged about how she had saved the secrets of the witches, gotten rid of all the enemies. We have a full confession from her, for all five murders, so a conviction should be easy to get. We also searched her home and her locker at work, and there is more than enough evidence to put her away for life." Carl said, nodding around to the group of people while absentmindedly running his fingers gently through Sandra's hair. "We have also arrested another woman, named Annabelle. Apparently she had a lot of things growing in her garden that she shouldn't have, and it also appears that she knew of the murders as they were very close to her farm, but she has been keeping quiet about it as Josie threatened to expose her little garden, Annabelle supplying Josie with whatever she needed."

"Did you ask Josie about the bomb?" Kelly asked, looking over to Carl.

"Yes, Sandra asked me about that. Josie said she didn't like the fact that you two were snooping around at their parents and wanted to scare you off. She appeared to have plans to stop Kelly as well but never got around to do it."

They all sat silent for a moment before Andrea Jonas, the client, spoke up.

"I am so eternally grateful that you accepted this case. I can't even begin to explain how much this meant to me, to be able to know what happened."

"We are all very happy that we managed to find out the truth as well." Kelly said.

"We have all talked a bit with each other as well today before Mr. Townsend called, and we would all like to chip in and split the fee amongst us, to show our gratitude to Miss Jones for pushing on this case. By not accepting a no for an answer you have given all of us answers as well." Mr. Jackson said, looking around the group, stopping to meet Kelly's eyes who nodded with a gentle smile.

"Absolutely, we will sort all of that out. Money is not the most important to us, being able to take a killer off the streets is. But it is of course nice to have the funds to be able to continue on with the next case and save more innocent lives."

"And pay hospital bills." Sandra chuckled.

* * *

Leaving the office one by one, soon the only ones left in the living room were Angels. Kelly, Kris, Madison, Sandra, Janet and Kamili all moved around so they sat closer together, Charlie's voice still coming out from the the speaker box.

"A job very well done Angels."

"Thank you, Charlie." The all answered in unison, giggling.

"Especially you Madison. It's amazing to see how fast you pick up on the details and grow as a person and as a detective. You have a bright future in front of you and I am very happy to have you onboard."

"Wow, thank you Charlie." Madison said quietly, blushing immensely.

"We all agree." Kamili said, everyone else joining in. "Keep this up and no criminals will ever escape your claws."

"I am very excited to learn more very day." Madison smiled. "It's been a bit scary, but I did enjoy working, finding the pieces of a puzzle and putting it together."

"That's a great part of this job." Sandra smiled. "We're very glad to have you in the family."

"Angels, you deserve some rest and relaxation after this achievement." Charlie said, and Sandra instantly saw her chance.

"Oh, speaking of that."

Kamili put her head back to the backrest of the couch, giggling as she had been looking forward to seeing Sandra trying to explain this to Charlie and Kelly.

"What is it Angel?" Charlie asked through the phone, Kelly immediately being more suspicious as she tensed her eyes, staring towards Sandra.

"Well, Tara is recovering as you all know, and she and Mark are on their way down to Georgia right now for three weeks to rest and relax. Kamili and I were talking about maybe tagging along, thinking it could be fun to all go down there together, some team building vacation." Sandra said, her voice fast, nervous as to what the answer would be.

"I think that sounds like a beautiful idea Angel." Charlie said.

"There's also the small detail that Sandra promised my mother that we would all come and the person who objects to this-" Kamili said, turning to Kelly. "Has to call her and explain why we can't come, I ain't calling her."

Kelly laughed, a genuinely warm laughter. "I think it's a great idea Kamili."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Everything?" Janet asked, looking at Kelly with big eyes.

"Well everything always goes wrong, so it doesn't matter where we are really." Kelly said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well then." Sandra said. "I guess we'll head down to Georgia."

"Let's finish this week, making sure all paperwork and court date is sorted out. Sandra and Madison, you should both go to the Prospect and quit your jobs. I will talk to Aurore and Peggy and see if they can tag along down south. I know Aurore doesn't take a break with the restaurant doing so well but I know she's been dying for a break. She does have awesome people in the kitchen, it will survive a week or two without her. I don't even think she'll be difficult to convince."

"I will talk to Devin and see if he can take work off as well or bring some of the work with him down." Janet nodded, knowing her partner worked a lot from home. "He would love to go home for a while, and I want to come."

"Let's get to it. The sooner we finish the paperwork, the sooner we can go to Georgia."

* * *

"I'm sorry for deceiving you. I needed to find a way to Alicia's killer and I just knew I would find answers here. I'm sorry you lost your secretary and I hope I haven't caused you too much trouble." Sandra said, sitting in Martin Howards office together with him and Eva Willows.

"You have not." Eva smiled. "Did you actually write the stuff you handed in?"

"I didn't write the things I brought with me the first day, but everything that's been handed in since is written by me. Everything I gave you on the 16th was my stuff."

"We really did enjoy the columns you handed in and with your permission I would love to still publish your work. I understand that you might not want to continue to do this for a daytime job as you already have one but do me a favor and at least consider being our columnist. It's just one column per month. You are allowed to write about whatever you feel like, crime related, wicca related or anything else. You don't have to give me a yes right now, but please consider it. I would appreciate an answer as soon as possible though."

Sandra stood silent, a bit stunned. She had never been much of a writer even though she found it a fun challenge. She had really enjoyed writing the columns that she had handed in and she wouldn't mind writing more of it. But knowing herself and knowing her head she did know better than to just jump onto the train, and she smiled as she held out her hand to Eva.

"I will certainly consider it. You'll have an answer by the end of the week, I promise."

"Thank you. I hope it will be a positive one, and in the meantime, I wish you luck in your search for the bad guys."

Sandra chuckled and offered Eva a wide smile.

"Thanks, I'll do my best." Sandra smiled, turning to Martin Howard. He had been sitting quiet ever since Sandra told him and Eva the whole story. "I'm sorry about Ellen, I am."

"I just can't understand that I didn't see any of it, didn't see it coming. I am just completely surprised." Martin said, shrugging his shoulders.

"She lived a double life, and she was addicted to different kind of drugs. She just dug herself into a hole and couldn't find her way out of it."

Martin nodded, sighing. "I wish I could've helped her. She was a brilliant secretary, sweet girl, hardworking, yet so shy and timid. It's hard to imagine that someone like her could do something like that."

Sandra nodded, looking over to Martin, smiling gently.

"Sometimes it's the most silent people who hide the biggest secrets."

* * *

"Tell me if you need a break. Don't overexert yourself, please."

"I'm fine." Kamili wheezed, hands against her back as she stretched carefully.

"How's the back?"

"It barely hurts anymore. Come at me again."

Sandra prepared herself as she once again ran at her friend. Monday was almost over, and Sandra and Madison had returned from the Prospect to have a workout in their new gym. Having been so busy with the case they hadn't really had time to all go there together, challenging each other on the mat.

Kris and Kelly were sitting in the other end of the room, on a bench and leaning against the wall, dressed in their regular clothes, watching the two Angels fight it out, working their bodies in almost poetic movements trying to take the other one down without hurting the person. Kelly and Kris had decided to move aside a bit so they could talk without the others overhearing them and not to disturb the ones working out.

"How is Kam doing?" Kris asked.

"She's out of shape." Kelly said. "I think, at least. She hasn't really had a chance to get back into it, it seems like every time she starts healing something ruins it again. She was fairly good about a month, a month and a half ago, but she seems to have backlashed, having trouble again which worries me a little. You heard her explain it herself after that bomb. I'm just worried she can't take the heat anymore."

Kris could tell that Kelly was thinking about something, her friend seemed lost in thoughts as she watched Kamili once again fall on her butt as Sandra moved aside, a hand wiping the sweat from her neck.

"What are you thinking about?" Kris asked.

"Sandra never used to stand a chance against Kamili. First time the two met Kamili had Sandra on her knees. Sandra has just become such a strong fighter during the last years, while Kamili is slipping. I'm just worried about her, I'm worried that she will get seriously injured if she can't defend herself. I'm scared she's going to end up in a fight and have a cardiac arrest. I don't want to make that phone call to Morgan. And she's a distraction to the others if they have to worry about her all the time, which could potentially be very dangerous if they end up in the wrong situation."

"Are you taking her out of the field?"

"Not yet. She did knock Josie down by herself so it's not like she's helpless, she just needs to get her stamina back. But I am planning to groom her for my role, so she is ready the day she needs to be, and ready to step in the day I need her to. Madison, Sandra and Janet as a trio, with Kamili as their '_Bosley'_ would be unstoppable." Kelly smiled.

"Are you retiring already?" Kris asked with a surprised look on her face.

"At age 33? No, not really. But Charlie wants out. Not yet, and maybe not for a few years, but he is already grooming me for his job so I can take over when he needs me to step in."

"Woah, _Charlie_ wants out?"

"He's thinking about it at least. You know he's almost 70 years old, Kris."

"Is he really? He looks, and sounds, younger."

"He's 67 this year."

"Jeez. Will you be an invisible boss as well?"

"I don't know. We'll see what happens, hopefully it's many years still. It would be too hectic moving around between all the different agencies, having a phone connection would be the most convenient way of communicating."

"Is this why Charlie made you his '_Chief Bosley'_ as he once put it?"

"Yes, he made me keep in touch with all the offices – Hawaii, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris and Beijing. Mostly so I know what's happening at all the offices, know all the girls and all the mentors."

"Maybe you should start writing a newsletter. It would be quite interesting to know what all the other Angels are up to."

"That's not a bad idea actually. I'll consider it. I'll have some free time now with Kamili doing my job. I just hope she doesn't have to take over too soon. She's so valuable out on the field, if we can get her back into the amazing shape she was in before that arrow hit, she will once again become unstoppable."

"I hope she can get back too. She's always been amazing to watch when she goes at it. When she first came into the agency, she was so hardcore, solid as a rock, face cut in stone, and took down everything in her path. A beast."

"She was for sure. I am glad she opened up though, that Sandra and Janet managed to tear down that tough exterior a bit and that she learned to trust them. But now we need to focus on making sure she gets back, so I can stay with my feet up on my desk for a few more years."

"You do a lot more than that at the office Kell. You're the glue who holds it all together, none of us would be here if it weren't for you."

"That's not true." Kelly smiled, cheeks turning a bit read. "But thanks kiddo."

"30+, a federal agent, mother of two, and still the kiddo?"

Kelly couldn't help but laugh before she wrapped her arm around Kris, pulling her tight. "You will always be our kiddo."

A crash down on the floor moved their attention back down, where Kamili once again fell hard on her back, and she closed her eyes for a second as she sighed. Sandra loomed over her, reaching down her left hand to once again pull her up. Kamili opened her eyes, grabbed Sandra's hand, and smiled wickedly as she pushed her feet against Sandra's legs while pulling her arm. Sandra, not prepared, landed on the mat next to her, giggling.

"That's just mean Kamili!"

Kamili leaned back again, laughing too. "I'm not Kamili, I am your enemy."

"If you were my enemy, I would've finished you off ages ago."

Kamili laughed, believing it. She took a few deep breaths as Sandra rolled onto her back next to her friend.

"How are you doing Kam?" Sandra asked, quietly, not wanting everyone around to hear them.

"I need us to do this, often. But I do think we are done for today, I'm rather sore around the edges still and the heart is beginning to let me know it's time for a break. But I desperately need to get back into shape."

"I'll help you out as often as you can take a beating."

Kamili laughed between the heavy breaths. "I am certainly getting my ass whopped."

"I of course think it's a nice change." Sandra laughed. "And if you don't want me to hit you every time we work out, there are more ways to exercise you know. We can run, bike, swim, ski-"

"Still not suicidal. But I can swim and run. Maybe bike."

"I thought you were supposed to fight here?"

Sandra and Kamili looked up at Madison who were suddenly looming over them, hands in the pockets of her sweatpants.

"I am defeated." Kamili said with a pout. "But Sandra wants a few more rounds, if you dare."

"If you think she can handle it." Madison grinned. "I don't want the old lady to get hurt."

"Hey, watch it." Sandra laughed, giving herself a second of preparations before jumping to her feet from lying position by just using core and leg muscles, only to show off of course. She stood straight, her hands on her hip, flexing her muscles with a big grin on her face.

"Lesson one..." Sandra said, as Madison leaned forwards, reaching down a hand to Kamili, which she happily accepted, instantly pulling Madison down on the mat just like she had done with Sandra. "Never trust Kamili."

Kamili and Madison laughed as the two of them got up on their feet, Kamili brushing herself off as she moved aside, sitting down as she grabbed a towel to dry some sweat off and popping the top of her water bottle.

"Lesson two..." Sandra said, coming at Madison as she was still getting ready, but she wasn't slow to catch up, blocking the blow Sandra was sending her direction, twisting, sending an elbow towards her fellow Angel which Sandra easily avoided. To Madison's defense, she held her own for quite a while before Sandra suddenly flipped her over onto her back.

"... never trust Sandra." Kamili laughed, happy that it wasn't her on the mat this time.

Back on the bench in the other end of the room, Kelly and Kris were still talking quietly.

"What about Madison?" Kris asked Kelly as the two of them now watched Madison and Sandra on the mat.

"What about her?"

"How is she doing?"

"She's proven herself so far, she's got a really brilliant mind and I'm sure she will be a huge asset to the team. She's such a fast learner. If Kamili and I teach her how to shoot, Sandra and Janet will teach her how to fight... That, along with her head, I think she could go miles."

"You really do like her. What is that about?"

"I don't know. It's almost like maternal feelings, or big sister feelings. It's not a crush or anything, it's… There's something about her that I can't really put my finger on, you know. I feel very protective of her and I think I unconsciously took her under my wing. She feels like a kid-sister." Kelly smiled, looking at Kris. "A little like you, actually. I've always felt protective of you, maybe because you're Jill's kid-sister and she wasn't around that much when you joined us. But Madison is… just slightly different. Both her parents died when she was a young teenager and she was raised by her grandparents, but I think she fared well enough. They live in New York though and she doesn't know anyone in Washington, I think that's also why I feel so protective of her, I don't want her to be lonely. She reminds me a lot of myself. Lost, just looking for that clear path."

"She seems to be doing alright." Kris laughed, pointing as Madison ducked Sandra's incoming tackle, rammed her shoulder into Sandra's lower abdomen, grabbed her right wrist and ankle and flipped her over her head, Sandra landing hard on her back.

"Ouch!"

Madison instantly twirled around to look at the Angel on the floor that was cradling her hand as she sat up.

"I'm sorry!" Madison immediately called out, moving to Sandra's side. Kamili motioned to move over as well but Sandra stopped her with a gesture.

"It's okay, it's okay. You just twisted it in the exact right spot."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't know you had a bad wrist; you hide that well when fighting."

"Injured it a few times too many. It's okay really. That was a nice throw. It's good to find the weakness in your opponent. We all have an Achilles heel, Kamili has her chest and heart, I have this hand and wrist. If I was your enemy, you could use it against me."

"If you were my enemy I would've held on tighter and broken that wrist as I threw you." Madison said, a wicked grin appearing on her face. "But I figured it would've ruined the mood a bit."

Sandra laughed. "I'm very happy to be pretend-fighting with you lot and not actually fighting. We could probably do a lot of harm to each other if we ever tried."

"Let's try to avoid that, Angels are not meant to fight each other. There's enough bad guys out there to go around." Kamili grinned. "You okay to go again?"

Sandra nodded and jumped to her feet, quickly followed by Madison, and the two of them were instantly at each other again, Madison being a bit more careful around Sandra's right arm to not cause unnecessary pain.

They kept it up for another 15 minutes before Sandra pulled Madison to her feet once more, Madison admitting defeat, the two of them walking over to their water bottles and towels.

"You're doing really good Mads." Sandra smiled.

"Thanks." Madison smiled. "I'm way out of my comfort zone here but I'm eager to learn. I'm happy to let you teach me everything you know."

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to practice a lot and often." Kamili smiled. "One day you might even kick Damien's behind."

"Yeah right." Sandra laughed, saluting with her water bottle. "That would be a sight."

"Damien?" Madison asked, wiping her neck with a towel.

"I think it's safe to say he's the best out of us. Janet is a really tough fighter as well and just like Kamili she doesn't fight fair, but Damien's got technique that is hard to beat. Both Damien and Janet have black belts in different martial arts and the two of them together are always an epic battle. If we could combine Damien's technique with Janet's street skills, we got ourselves someone undefeatable." Sandra smiled.

"All of us and the past Angels are good fighters, which you have to be to do the job, but Damien is the only one so far that has taken us all down during practices, even when going two against one."

"Then Damien will be my goal." Madison grinned. "One day I'll take him down."

"Yeah, best of luck with that." Kamili laughed. "I hope we are there to see it."


	23. Chapter 22 - Homeward bound

**Chapter 22.**

_[Friday, August 30__th__, 1985]_

* * *

"Come on Ella!"

Kelly sighed as she looked at her watch one more time. It was just after 5 am, and her oldest daughter was not the morning person she had been as a kid. Sarah on the other hand was already in the car, buckled up and ready to go, excited for their trip.

Ella came slowly down the stair, glaring at her mother, hair ruffled as she had apparently gone straight from bed downstairs, barely bothered to change from her pajama. She dragged herself out to the car and sank down next to her sister.

"Ella, aren't you excited?" Sarah asked with a big smile as Ella buckled herself up.

"For what? Two weeks in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do?"

"There are alligators!"

"Two weeks Sarah. Two weeks."

Kelly rolled her eyes, going over everything again in her head, trying to remember if they had forgotten anything. She had packed clothes for them all, she had packed suitcases for her, both children and Aurore. She had packed several different pairs of shoes, she had packed boardgames for them to play, she had packed her gun and made sure it was safely tucked away in the bottom of the car, out of the children's reach. She had packed some food for the trip, snacks and water bottles. She had packed books and games suitable to play in the car. She had packed the camera and extra rolls of film and she had packed basically everything from the bathroom. She was set. Both kids were in the car. Oscar the dog was with Kris as he would be staying home, hating long drives. Kris would be watering the plants and taking care of her mail.

She took a deep breath and locked the door of the house. She was ready to go.

She got into the car, looking up at her two daughters with a smile before reversing out of her driveway, heading through town over to Aurore's restaurant, pulling into an empty parking spot on the backside of the house. The bar had closed about half an hour ago, and Aurore had decided to stay through the night which she normally didn't do. There were still people lingering outside, standing in groups smoking, someone holding someone up, one group laughing loudly on their way downtown.

They didn't have to wait long for Aurore who came scurrying out to the car, sliding down into the passenger's seat and gave Kelly a kiss before looking back into the car, both Sarah and Ella greeting her happily. Aurore greeted the kids before she smiled happily, leaning her head back.

"Good night?" Kelly asked, patting her knee gently as she maneuvered the car out on the street.

"Yes, very busy. Weird for a Thursday but I won't complain." Aurore smiled, closing her eyes. "Do you mind if I sleep?"

"Not at all, go ahead so you can take the wheel later on."

"Thanks." Aurore mumbled, a content smile spreading across her lips.

The car remained silent for a while as Kelly headed down the empty roads of their capital, the kids calm and Aurore drifting off. Kelly smiled to herself, enjoying the silence. But she had a nagging feeling in her stomach that something was amiss. It really felt as if she had forgotten something, but she could not figure out what it was.

The answer arrived about 20 minutes later when the car phone rang. Aurore didn't even flinch, and Kelly giggled to herself, figuring that Aurore must really be tired.

"Kelly here." Kelly answered, wondering who'd call her at this time of the day, guessing it to be one of her Angels as they were all awake and on route as well.

"Good morning Kelly."

"Hi Sandra. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, absolutely. We're just leaving your place."

"What?" Kelly frowned. "Why?"

"Did you by any chance forget something?"

"I do have this feeling that there is something I forgot but I can't figure out what it is."

There was a sound in the other end of the phone, phones changing hands.

"You forgot _me_!"

Kelly held the phone a bit away from her ear as Peggy shouted down the phone, voice very high pitched and very upset. Kelly put the phone to her shoulder and suffocated a laugh. Jeez. She had forgotten all about Peggy.

Kelly held the phone against her shoulder for a little while until she heard how Peggy's voice calmed down, Kelly trying to hold back her laughter to not upset her further.

"I am so sorry Peggy. I was a little bit stressed out. I'm really sorry."

"No you're not!"

"Yes, I am, really. Are you alright? Did you call Sandra?"

"I called Kamili to ask if I could ride on her bike."

"And she said no?"

"Yeah, how did you know? She told me I could ride with Morgan and Sandra instead."

Kelly laughed loudly, she could just see the look on Sandra and Morgan's faces when Kamili had told them at 5 in the morning that a very upset Peggy would be riding with them. Kelly knew she would have to make it up to them later on.

"Why didn't you call me? I would've turned back." Kelly asked, already guessing the answer.

"No, I'm angry with you. You left me!"

"Peggy, give Sandra the phone, will you?" Kelly chuckled.

The sound of phones changing hands were heard again, Sandra's voice back in the other end.

"I'm really sorry Sandra, I completely forgot about her. Are you guys alright?"

"No. You have to pick her up."

"No can do, sorry. But she can trade places with me on our first stop."

"Kelly!"

"I'll see you in three hours for breakfast."

"Kelly!"

Kelly laughed before hanging up the phone, shaking her head as she looked into the rearview mirror, happy to see how both kids had fallen asleep, leaning against each other. She was in a calm and peaceful car and she had no intentions on picking up the whirlwind that was Peggy who would most likely wake both kids. Now she could just drive for a few hours, alone with her own head as they headed down to Fargo in Georgia. She wondered what would happen down there, just wondering how much trouble they could all get into.

Aurore had told her it was a super quiet neighborhood and the worst trouble they could find would be if they upset Kamili's mother, Mrs. Lulu Sow. Not even Angels could find trouble down there. Kelly had just laughed at her, realizing that Aurore had never had a vacation together with all Angels and she had no idea just how bad it could become. Aurore had waved her off, telling her that she was just overreacting and some of Mrs. Sow's pecan pie would set her in the right mindset. Kelly was still worried, knowing Angels on vacation was rarely a good idea. They never, ever had good vacations, at least not when all of them took off together. Something always seemed to happen, they always ended up working a case. Thankfully though they always solved them as well.

She felt like she hadn't contributed much during this last case, but she was rather happy about it. When she had moved to Washington, she had told Charlie that she wanted out of the field, but somehow, she was always dragged back out into it. She preferred being the person in the background, taking care of the paperwork and being the connection between Angels and Charlie. She could spend more time at home with her children and she didn't have to put herself at unnecessary risks that could leave her children without a mother.

In the same time she couldn't help but to miss the old days now and then. There had been a lot of fun, crazy moments, already when they started in the agency ten years ago. She made a mental note to call Sabrina when she got the chance, wondering how she was doing and hoping to make the trip to the west coast soon enough to meet her old friend again. Or maybe invite Sabrina to Washington? She had been visiting a few times during the years, but she had been very busy as well with her husband, son and their farm.

She would love to get together just her, Sabrina and Jill and do stupid stuff like they used to do in the academy, but by spring Jill would be a mother of three and she knew things would change once again.

Kelly sighed at her own thoughts. She was happy with her life and the way it had turned. She had both Kris and Jill on the same street, and they met almost daily. She had Aurore who was the best thing that had happened to her, showing up at the perfect time in her life, just when she needed her the most. She had Ella and Sarah who brightened up every day of her life and she had three – _no, four now_ – fantastic women to work with. She was excited to see where her path would lead her, but she couldn't help but to worry as well of what was to come.

Leaving the city and heading out on the interstate highway, she pressed the car up in a faster speed, enjoying the empty roads, the silence and the calmness, deciding to enjoy it while she could. As they arrived in Georgia she knew there would be a full house with all of Kamili's, Aurore's and Morgan's families, all of the Angels and kids. They would be busy.

And of course, having all of their family members, including the kids, made Kelly worry even more. She was almost certain that there would be trouble during their stay there, and she was terrified that the kids would accidentally end up in the line of fire. They would have to make sure someone was with them all the time, keeping them out of harm's way. But Kelly still had a bad knot in her stomach.

And the sound that came from behind her didn't really help to settle her worry either. It was a roaring sound of heavy engines, far off in the distance but coming closer in high speed. It was the thunder of three massive motorcycles, very soon coming up close to her car before going up next to it, splitting so they moved around it on both sides, stayed next to car for a moment before accelerating hard, all three bikes passing them in high speed, one of them going on the back wheel, before they disappeared in a cloud of dust. Kelly sighed loudly, shaking her head, hoping that none of those three would accidentally kill themselves or each other on the journey down to Georgia.

* * *

The trio on the bikes came up next to each other in the same lane, stayed next to each other for a moment, Kamili in the middle dropping down to two wheels again before looking over to Janet on her right and then to Madison on her left before she laughed inside her helmet and then accelerated again, pushing her Harley-Davidson XR1000 to do what it did best. Janet and Madison had no problem keeping up with her but staying on a row behind each other as they moved onwards down Interstate 95 as the sun rose over the outskirts of the city.

They had driven past Morgan's big car earlier, which seated him, Sandra, Yasmin and a _very_ upset Peggy, as well as three dogs who were sleeping in the trunk. They had yet to pass Devin and Benjamin, the two of them had left early as Benjamin had decided to wake up at 3 am. The three Angels had tried to get Sandra on a bike, but it had been hopeless. She had been determined to join the caravan of cars, keeping the kids happy. Kamili, Janet and Madison had all made a bet though that they would get Sandra on a bike before the two weeks were up. The person owning the bike sat down on would win.

They were all to meet up in Emporia for their first stop, to have breakfast, feed kids, and change places in the cars to make sure drivers got some rest. But right now, they were all enjoying the empty roads and all of them were excited to get down to Georgia even if they knew they would be very tired upon arriving. Kamili was so happy to be on her bike though, and looking into her mirrors she couldn't help but to feel a bubbly feeling in her stomach as she saw Janet close behind her, and Madison behind Janet, both of them seeming to enjoy the ride as well. Kamili was so excited to be able to show them both, and all the others, her hometown and reminisce about the old days.

But with many hours to come, Kamili was now taking charge and setting the speed, allowing the wind to lead her onwards as she grinned happily in her big, black helmet. The late August weather was perfect, the roads were quiet, her friends and family were behind her, and she was heading home.

.

_Oh, wanna swim in the sunshine  
And every day find a way to face my fears  
Oh, wanna get in the wind_

_Gonna take every chance I'm given  
Feel the wind through the open plains  
Freedom is a gift, get livin  
Go chase that sunset highway down  
You got to get uncaged_

[Uncaged, Zac Brown Band]


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue**_. _

* * *

_There once was a girl named Ava. The sisters talk a lot about her, with mixed emotions. Some called her crazy. Some called her fun. She was one of the few that actually believed herself to be a witch with magic powers, and apparently, she was never hesitant to talk about it to anyone who would at least pretend to listen. They told me that she would be mixing potions and keep her wand close, pretending to cast spells and all sorts of stuff. Maybe she was crazy. _

_But she was also just a young woman, who all of a sudden, was just gone and never heard from again. Some say that she just ran away, but there is also a rumor that she was murdered because she spoke her mind, because she never followed the rules and went her own way. She used to say that she wasn't created to fall in line, that she would never follow the stream like the dead fishes. And it might've gotten her killed. No one knows, and no one is searching for her. But I, on my journalist honor, promise to find the truth about her. I will find out what happened to her. I will not let her be forgotten. No one cares just because she didn't fit the mold and I've been told that she's not worth the trouble. _

_But that's what we journalists do, we dig deep into the trouble to find the truth and I just know that there's something not right here, I can sense it. I don't know if it's the journalist in me or just female intuition, but I have this feeling that there's something dark and dangerous out there that we need to watch out for. Something Ava didn't watch out for, because she wasn't afraid. Apparently, she was never afraid of anything, believing she could just wave her wand and all things would fix itself. But a killer with his or her mind set is not something you can just wave away. When they have decided something, they will take all means necessary to get the job done. If Ava ignored all the dangerous signs, which I bet she did, she would've been an easy target. _

_Maybe it was someone within the witch community who didn't like that she introduced herself as a real witch. Maybe she held her nose too high, looking down upon everyone here because they were not true witches with power. Maybe someone didn't like that she told others, outside the community, about what happened inside the walls and shared secrets. What is told within that group is meant to stay in there. _

_I know I write a lot about what is being said in there, but in respect of my sisters I never mention any names._

_Except Ava. I don't think she would mind. And you should all remember that name, because I will return with a full article about what happened to her. I promise you that. _

Alicia Jonas

* * *

_Do you remember Ava that I told you about a few months ago? I have been digging like a crazy person trying to find out what happened to her. I met her family, I talked to her twin brother, I went through her things and I even read her diary. I checked old newspapers, talked to the police, and snooped around as much as I could. But she is gone without a trace. Not even a lock of hair remains. How can someone just disappear from the face of the Earth? Without leaving any clues behind. _

_What I did find is that she is not the first one to have disappeared. There are three more women from the witch community who has also disappeared without a trace. Sophie, Anna and Olivia. All three were sisters of the witches and all three just vanished. In thin air. No trace. The sisters keep telling me that people leave all the time, but I don't think so. Not like this. I'm good at my job and one of the things I do is track people down, for questioning, for a comment, for an interview. But I came up empty handed with all four women, not a single clue to where anyone of them might be. It's like they just went up in smoke. Maybe thrown in the river. What if they were killed witches-style? Maybe feet and hands tied and thrown in the water? Or burned at the stake? With either one of those, it would be near impossible to find a body, easy for the killer to sweep her or his tracks. _

_I do think I'm onto something. Or I know I am actually, because I've been getting threatening voice messages and handwritten notes, all of the messages telling me to stop searching, to get my nose out of other people's business, to leave the women alone. But I can't do that. Because I'm a journalist and a reporter, and this is what we do. We dig for clues and we search for the truth and I will not rest until I find out what happened, I will not throw my hands up, wave a white handkerchief and just surrender. No. I will fight. I will come forward with the story of Ava, Sophie, Anna and Olivia, and I will not have them forgotten. I will give their families closure and I will make sure that the killer is caught. When I have enough evidence I will go to the police and make sure something happens. At the moment I don't have anything else than my gut feeling but, but believe me, I will go to the bottom of this. _

_I hope the person who is threatening me is reading this. You will not scare me away. I am not frightened of you. This is what I do and there is nothing that's going to stop me from solving this mystery. _

_You will have to kill me if you want my silence._

Alicia Jonas

* * *

_Life after death. Such a sensitive subject, isn't it? Everyone seems to have different opinions, some believe in reincarnation, some believe in a heaven above the clouds where we meet our loved ones, some believe that you'll just return to the dust. _

_I'd like to think there is more to it than just dust, earth and worms. I wouldn't mind getting to a heavenly place where I can meet everyone I ever held dear, but maybe even run in to some deceased personas that I would've loved to gotten the chance to meet. Party with Elvis? Sing with Judy? Have a drink with Marilyn? _

_It would be cool. But how would one ever find those cool celebrities when everyone goes to the same heaven? There must be billions of people there. Is there a special celebrity heaven? That's where I want to go. I bet they have awesome parties. _

_A Swedish colleague once told me of a place called Trapalanda, which is the horses' heaven. It's a kingdom, created only for the horses, no other creatures allowed. There are endless fields of soft, long green grass coated in dew, there are apple trees and carrot patches. There are rocky mountains, beautiful, safe rivers and thick, lush forests. There are millions of horses, horses in every shape and size, all of them getting along well without any pain or suffering. And if you love your horse more than anything else, you can come and visit sometimes, through your dreams. _

_It made me wonder if there are other kingdoms out there. For other animals, for humans? One day we will all find out, right? Some people go their whole lives worrying about death so much that they forget that they have to live as well. Take every day and make it better. There's something beautiful to find each day. Maybe it's the warm rays of the sun, maybe it's the smell of newly fallen rain on earthy soil. Maybe it's the love in your partner's eye or the way your child looks up to you for guidance. There's so much to live for that we should not sit around and wait for death. Death will come, it won't spare anyone. We will all die someday. _

_And even if I'm not ready to die, as I'm having too much I want to do still, I am also curious. Maybe it's just like closing your eyes and then there's nothing. Or you'll have the time of your life. _

_Chuck Palahniuk once said that "if death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character… Would you slow down? Or speed up?"_

_Maybe we are all just playing a part. Maybe we have many more parts to play, in different lifetimes as different characters. I'm not afraid to die. _

_If I must die  
I will encounter darkness as a bride,  
and hug it in mine arms.  
[William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, act III, scene I, line 83.]_

Alicia Jonas

* * *

**The end.**


End file.
